Bitter truths of Andhra sex racket

BITTER TRUTHS: A number of parents in Andhra Pradesh selling their daughters into prostituion.

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Hyderabad: CNN-IBN's expose on the trafficking of minor girls by their own parents is just the tip of a sordid iceberg.

The National Human Rights Commission says that Andhra Pradesh is the biggest supplier of minor girls in this racket.

The state government is still chalking out plans for the rescue of such girls. "Your effort will definitely give a boost to whatever we are doing in overcoming this problem," says Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Dr YS Rajasekhar Reddy.

DGP of Andhra Pradesh Mohammed Basith agrees: "I acknowledge the help rendered by all mediapersons and the NGOs in assisting us in carrying out our duties."

Girls and women from the state account for 60 per cent of the nation's sex workers. The state also has a high incidence of AIDS, but the girl's parents don't care.

"If you want there are two more girls. They are my daughter's friends. I'll speak to them and get them in a day or two. They look good also but they are right now out of town," says D Nirmala, a mother.

Parents of 13-year-old Lakshmi and 15-year-old Geetha have been hiring them out as prostitutes for over two years. "I'll bring you first class girls to your feet. I'll bring them to Hyderabad. Ask Gopi Krishna in Vijayawada, I have been doing this for him for the last five years," says K Nageshwara Rao, a broker.

Lack of policing and government apathy towards child trafficking, and Andhra's tradition of national disasters, which keep lakhs of families on the margins of poverty, suggests that problem is here to stay.

(With Rohit Khanna)

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