The state is also plagued with such organised prostitution which has been rampant amongst the Jogini and Devdasi communities. After the recent bust of organised inter-generational prostitution in Yadagirigutta temple town came to fore in August, over 34 young girls were rescued and 31 persons were arrested by the police department.
However, the issue runs deeper and the Department of Women Development and Child Welfare (WDCW) has identified nine more places across the State where similar menace was unearthed.
“We have identified temple towns in Medak, Siddipet, Jagtial, Rajanna-Siricilla and Warangal, among others in the 31 districts where organised prostitution continues to take place,” informed a senior official from the department.
It was only in August that the crackdown revealed how families had settled down near the prominent shrine in Yadagirigutta and had made a profession of the same by purchasing girls for anywhere between `60,000 to `1 lakh. However they suspect after the initial raids, many families may have fled along with the child victims to a safe haven in other temple towns.
Authorities say the organised prostitution is becoming difficult to track because it is so common in the communities where they exist.
“There are some communities like the Dommara community, who have been forced into practicing the same for generations and wherever they crop up, they undertake the same profession,” added the official.
The state is also plagued with such organised prostitution which has been rampant amongst the Jogini and Devdasi communities.
“Telangana is turning into national transit points of sorts because there is a railway line connecting all districts which in turn connects to all major cities,” added Mamtha Raghuveer, of NGO Tharuni.
The department is planning to forward the request to the Telangana DGP to strike all these locations at once, to avoid them from moving on to another place. Meanwhile, activists also suggest that mass sensitization program must be undertaken to reap good benefits from such strikes.
“The authorities must also sensitise the entire community because this inter-generational practice did not start today. It has happened for many years and the network members like identifiers of vulnerable families, transporters, buyers and sellers are regular people. So right from the auto drivers to the children need to be sensitized before and after the strikes, to ensure their effectiveness,” added Mamtha. #KhabarLive
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