Rescued sex workers get married in Mumbai

May 10, 2004

Mumbai, May 9 (ANI):

" Saavdhan " , a non-governmental organization, recently married off

three girls rescued a month ago from a brothel. And later a

receiption was held for the newly wed.

The girls were given a fresh lease of life by I.G Khandelwal,

secretary of Saavdhan, which works for the welfare of sex workers.

" I am very happy. So far everything has been good for me. I hope

everything will be good or me in future, " Radhika, one of brides,

said.

Her husband said he was confident that they would be able to take on

society and lead a normal life.

" I am least bothered about what society says about it. We have

decided to get married and it's not society. If we want to change

things in society it has to start from home. People will say

something today but then everything will be normal later. We are not

worried about that, " Krishna said.

Khandelwal said one of the grooms is a police constable and the two

others are social workers, one working with " Saavdhan. "

" The girls met the boys and instantly decided to tie the knot. Their

families also agreed to accept these girls. I am sure that the girls

will now lead a good life and be accepted by society, "

he said.

The organisation adopts rescued sex workers and maintains a database

of prospective grooms for them.

The organisation has rescued nearly 8,500 prostitutes in the last few

years and has conducted marriages of about 850 of them.

Most women prostitutes, estranged from social security systems and

ostracised by society, lead extremely sorry lives.

Living in sickening conditions, most of them fall prey to various

sexually transmitted diseases like HIV/AIDS.

Of the country's three million sex workers, 94 percent are Indians,

while the rest are mainly from neighbouring Bangladesh and Nepal.

At least 600,000 minors are also employed in the profession and their

number is said to be increasing by almost 10 per cent every year.

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