Shevgaon girls leave school to avoid brothels en route

SHEVGAON (AHMEDNAGAR): Thirteen-year-old Megha misses meeting friends at school. For the past six months, she has not stepped out of her residence in Ahmednagar’s Shevgaon taluka and is even forbidden from lingering at the main entrance.
Megha is one among adolescent girls who had to drop out of school as they had to pass by a cluster of brothels that have cropped up in the middle of their residential locality at Shivaji Nagar.More than a dozen residents have already moved out but are unable to find buyers— other than brothel operators themselves—for their vacant homes. With customers knocking at their doors at odd hours and making inappropriate requests, residents live in constant fear of their children being abused.
Recently, two residents along with an anti-trafficking NGO from Mumbai, filed a writ petition in Bombay high court’s Aurangabad bench seeking relief.
“I was not in favour of disenrolling Megha from school,” says her mother. “She has studied till Class VI. The school is a short walk from home but it’s too risky to send her out.”
Megha helps her mother with chores for most part of the day and in the evenings plays with her cousins inside the compound. “Four of Megha’s cousins have dropped out too,” said Dipesh Tank from the NGO Project Kalki, a petitioner in the case. The girls look forward to weddings, the only time the family gets to go out of Shivaji Nagar. “The school asked us why were our girls dropping out. We told them they were moving to their aunt’s place. We were too embarrassed to tell the truth,” said Mangal Singh, a petitioner.
Once a bustling locality in the prime area of Shevgaon due to its proximity to schools, colleges, a bazaar and a state transport bus stand, Shivaji Nagar now stands isolated. People prefer taking a 1km detour and skip entering the locality altogether. “Initially, there were just a few brothels but the numbers have grown to nearly 20 now. Customers come from as far as Jalna and Parbhani and zip around on their bikes throughout the day. Three wine shops have sprung up. We can hear loud fights and profanities late into the night. In the morning, we wake up to discarded condoms and liquor bottles lying outside houses,” says Hema Pardeshi, a resident.
On umpteen occasions, residents have carried out demonstrations and filed complaints at the police superintendent’s office. “Police carry out raids sometimes... We read newspaper articles about young girls being rescued from the brothels but the flesh trade continues,” said Pardeshi’s 65-year-old father-in-law. “When a customer tried to forcibly enter a house recently, while the men were out for work, all the women got together and thrashed him. Our children’s friends don’t come over anymore. Our girls’ only connection with the outside world is mobile phones,” said another resident.
The brothels operate out of rented rooms. “There is constant pressure on me to rent out to a brothel,” said Kiran Jadhav, a co-petitioner who has moved out with his teenaged children. “Buying a new house has buried me in debt. No buyer, except brothel operators, have shown interest in my vacant house.”
Additional superintendent of police Sagar Patil said the locals had met him with their grievances. “We are in the process of writing to the collector who has powers to seal the property. Our raids will continue,” said Patil. “Police raids are not a solution,” said Girish Naik Thigle, the petitioners’ advocate. “Rehabilitation of victims is necessary. The state has failed miserably in implementing its legal responsibility. Our main concern in filing the petition was to protect the life and liberty of schoolgirls.”
(Names of minors changed)