Bengaluru brothel keeps one step ahead of authorities

People running prostitution rackets in Bengaluru are clearly one step ahead of the authorities.

An adolescent girl, pushed into flesh trade at a brothel in the city, managed to run away with the help of a non-governmental organisation last year. She is certain that there are many more young girls like her there. The authorities want to crack down on the brothel and rescue the girls. But there is a catch. The rescued girl doesn’t know the location of the brothel although she is from the city.

Childline (1098), the government-supported helpline for kids, is in a fix. The helpline’s nodal coordinator, Nagamani C N, said it had become one of the most difficult cases.

“Maybe the girl was not allowed to look outside when she was brought in or she was blindfolded. Childline coordinators have been trying to get more information and trace the location, but we have not been successful,” Nagamani added.

Meanwhile, the helpline is launching a week-long campaign ‘Childline Se Dosti (Sneha Sapthaha)’ on the theme of ‘Keeping neighbourhoods child-friendly and safe for children is everybody’s responsibility’ on November 14 to raise awareness about itself and its ongoing efforts to support and help people play their part in protecting children.

Childline received 1,506 intervention cases from April to September this year. These include 31 cases of child marriage, 255 cases of child labour, 23 cases of child sex abuse, 352 cases of begging, 97 education-related cases, 29 cases of corporal punishment, 21 instances of runaway children and two cases of abandonment. Another 982 cases were found at Yeshwantpur and KSR Bengaluru railway stations.

With awareness about the existence of Childline rising, the helpline has also received many calls from IT professionals informing about child labour, beggary, corporal punishment among others. It is also the reason why there are more calls and complaints being registered, Nagamani added.