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Young, educated, middle class and... a call girl
By V.K. Raghunathan
August 30, 2004
New Delhi - Sleaze Capital. That's what the local media has dubbed the capital
where police have been busting sex rackets almost daily.
Nearly 300 women have been arrested in the drive against prostitution this
year.
What shocked the nation, however, was that some 70 per cent were said to be
from educated, affluent or middle-class families.
Also in the police net, according to reports in local newspapers, are women
from Central Asian and other countries who arrive on tourist visas and sell sex
at fancy rates of nearly 100,000 rupees (S$3,700) a session.
The number of women caught this year is more than twice the number arrested in
the same period last year, The Times of India reported, citing Delhi police
records.
'These women are available everywhere. Five-star hotels, upmarket restaurants
and markets. They come from all walks of life,' a police officer was quoted as
saying.
Among those arrested this year were the daughters of a senior tax official, an
army officer, doctors and a top five-star hotel executive, reports said.
A recent police raid at a hotel found girls from Central Asian countries
operating with the help of the hotel owner who doubled as a pimp.
In another case, three prostitutes were arrested near a fast food joint on
Tuesday.
Two were sisters aged 18 and 21, the third had travelled from Mumbai to join
them.
'As in most cases this year, the girls spoke good English and catered only to
the well-heeled,' senior police official Tajendra Luthra was quoted as saying.
On Wednesday, police nabbed seven girls and their pimps including a 76-year-old
who managed a hotel where the 'deals' were negotiated.
'One of the girls was a Delhi University graduate and an aspiring actress,' Mr
Luthra told The Times of India, adding that she had been promised access to
Bollywood producers.
But more than the lure of the tinsel world, it is easy money that seems to be
the bait.
The girls lead a double life, 'playing the smart neighbourhood girl on weekdays
and dashing off for weekend liaisons with strangers', Outlook magazine said in
a cover story.
Some girls from conservative families lied to their parents to be able to spend
time out of the house, the magazine said, quoting a girl it had interviewed.
'Since the money is good we can have a cool time - weekends in Goa or even
travel abroad. The girls know there is a price to be paid. But we don't care,'
the girl said.
According to the magazine, 'the trade has grown in Delhi because, as the
national capital, it is here that major business deals are brokered and
politicians and bureaucrats have to be entertained'.
Dozens of crude and clumsily worded advertisements offering prostitutes appear
in local dailies.
'Charm, gorgeous, educated, English spoken, etiquettes, Indian, foreigner,
celebrities, models,' says one ad giving a cellphone number and a name.
'Broad minded, extremely beautiful, high-profile Indian, Spanish, Russian
masseurs available,' says another with the name, number and picture of a
foreign-looking woman.
One advertisement demanded '5,000 rupees for a short time with college girls'
and '20,000 to 25,000 rupees for models like you see in magazines and
television'. Foreigners or 'movie actresses' cost more than 50,000 rupees.
While prostitution grows, the debate continues whether it should be legalised
to control HIV/Aids which affects five million Indians.
But Delhi police chief K.K. Paul told Outlook: 'If you cannot eradicate it,
that does not mean you legalise it. More action needs to be taken.'
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