Brothel owner gets 7-year RI

THE TIMES OF INDIA

10 August 2009


Additional sessions judge D P Waikar on Saturday sentenced brothel owner Geeta Tamang (38) of Budhwar Peth to seven years' rigorous imprisonment (RI) and fined Rs 3,000 for inducing six girls to prostitution in 2008. Tamang was also sentenced to three years' RI for procuring girls for prostitution and another years' RI for wrongfully confining the girls. All the sentences will run concurrently. The prosecution's case is that Tamang had brought six girls from different places on pretext of giving them employment in Pune, but forced them into prostitution. The incident came to light when the girls were rescued by sub-inspector Vimal Bidwe of the Faraskhana police station on September 8, 2008.

Open Letter

CG,
Im requesting prayer for one of our cases. Actually its multiple cases and im worried the accused will be able to get off. Heres the details:

Pune: In September 2007, a woman named Shila Talgeri was arrested in Pune along with two other persons for the prostitution of two children, Sujata and Mala. One of those girls, Mala, is Talgeri's daughter. Later that year, the CWC(government body charged with these girls care and safety) released the girls back to their parents. The girls are no longer traceable.

Sangli: In December 2007, a relative of Shila Talgeri was arrested in Sangli along with one other woman for the prostitution of a very young (15?) girl named Sara. The second accused in that case was Sara's grandmother. Sara was later released from government care.

Pune: In December 2008, charges were filed in Pune against Shila Talgeri for the prostitution of Sara. I was on the raid that night. It was only the second raid I've ever gone along on. Shila Talgeri ran from the police and has been absconding since then. She has been sending family members to the court in her place. The court has been oblivious.

I've identified two goals for myself in this work for this year. I want to see brothels closed. And I want to see Shila Talgeri in prison.

In January, I arranged for one operative to watch the court on Shila Talgeri's court date. After we successfully arrested the person appearing before the court, we realized it wasnt Shila Talgeri but an imposter. The police were angry...at me. I, because they have yet to capture this woman and could if they wanted to, am frustrated with them.

We have learned that just before Sara was rescued the second time (spotted on the street by one of our staff), she went to the police and paid them not to re-rescue her. Barbara, in our office, describes Sara as the toughest case she has ever seen. Only 15, but so cold. Never smiles. Only wants to go into prostitution and hates us for rescuing her. (please note: some girls cry and are grateful to be rescued...but some are angry) Some of you will remember me writing or talking about Sara. She is the one who, on the night of the raid, asked why we did this and "who would ever marry me?".

On Monday, Shila Talgeri has a hearing in court. It is the first since our failed attempts to have her arrested. I have since notified the court of the multiple cases against her and her deception before the court. Please pray she would be arrested under the second case. Please pray her bail would be denied and she would spend the next 2 years in jail waiting for trial.

But here is my biggest request of God. As I said above, the two victims in Shila Talgeri's first case are missing, almost certainly in prostitution in Mumbai or even here in Pune. Without their testimony, Shila Talgeri is certain to escape conviction in her first case. And if Sara never realizes the wrong done to her and never gives a strong testimony, Shila Talgeri will go free in the second case. She will have ruined the lives of three little girls and will never have to answer to anyone this side of heaven. God will answer this call for justice, but there is certainly a place for justice here on earth. Please pray for that justice.

Evan

CONVICTION

After over 2 years, and 3 disappointing acquittals (2 of them due to bribes), Freedom Firm's legal work has finally led to a conviction. Sonam Roy, a woman who forced minors into prostitution and profited from their abuse, was sentenced to 5 years in prison.
In March of 2007, Freedom Firm rescued Sunita (not her real name) from a brothel in Pune. Roy was arrested and charged with various prostitution-related offenses. These cases generally take a mind-boggling 1 1/2 to 2 years to be completed. But on Saturday, 20 months after her apprehension, Roy was convicted in a court of law.
Pray with us that this conviction, along with the press proclaiming it and the inevitable grapevine in the red light areas, will cause other would-be abusers to rethink their lifestyle of profiting from the abuse of children. Pray also for Sonam Roy, that she will indeed be reformed during her incarceration. And please pray for Sunita, whose life goes on as a traumatized girl recovering from her abuse.
Freedom Firm
www.freedom.firm.in
+91 423 244 3053

Overcoming Home: I met Karishma

The road leading into Sangli is tranquil. It’s scenic. This lane stretches for miles, essentially flat and straight, with old trees lining the way on both sides. Through the trees, field upon field and farm after farm give a backdrop of rural India. Laborers march along each side with sticks on their heads and bicycles pass loaded with plastic buckets or old newspapers. It didn’t occur to me just how beautiful this stretch was until recently. I was returning to Sangli for the fourth time. It was my first time alone. In 2005, I went in blissful ignorance unaware of the deep secrets that surrounded this place. The following two times I looked for reasons not to go. I wasn’t needed. It would be better if I went ahead to Mumbai. Never able to make my case and maintain my dignity, I went down the scenic lane as a man marching to his death. My march came alive as a metaphor of martyrdom in the very real treachery of that particular Indian road. This two lane road is fast and very narrow. Cars and buses blaze. One lane goes in and one lane goes out. But both lanes are open to everyone.

Constantly weaving in and out, passing the slower vehicles ahead of you while sneaking back into your lane with just an inch before being crushed by the oncoming cement truck; well, it’s not something you get used to right away. My boss, Greg, who has been in India for eight years, he sleeps as the government bus pushes fifty, the overexerted engine shaking the vehicle with each notch above forty. No, Greg sleeps… with his head against the window. Me, I watch the road intently, helping the driver, making sure he pulls back in time. And I watch Greg, bewildered at how he can sleep and not help me to pray.

A book has actually been written about Sangli. It happened one time that an investigator got discovered in a brothel. A crowd surrounded him on the street, hitting him some. When the team came with a vehicle to get him out, the driver of that vehicle ran off, leaving three of our team stranded. The crowd threw large rocks at the jeep; breaking some of the windows.

On a couple different occasions, protesters have gathered at the police station after a raid. During my first trip, more than a hundred folks gathered outside the remand home the day after I arrived in Sangli. The tables were turned later that year when the brothel keepers tried to convince the police to arrest one of our investigators for rape.

For those of you who read my support letter of last March, you remember part of the story of the first time I went to Sangli. You know that four girls were rescued on a Thursday night of that intervention week. You remember the deadness in the girls’ eyes. You remember my hope for their future. I left India six weeks after that night, but Freedom Firm continued to conduct raids in Sangli since that time and in its sister city, Miraj.

Karishma was twelve when investigations found her in a brothel in Miraj. If you scroll to the bottom of this page, under my first posting, there is a picture. The picture is a young girl standing with her feet in water. She is holding a little fishing net. She is twelve. She is Karishma.

Freedom Firm found Karishma two or three times before she was rescued. Twice investigators caught sight of her around the brothels. Both times they brought police. Twice, she had disappeared. There is actually footage taken in the brothel of Karishma lying on a bed. Karishma’s grandmother walks over and pulls the covers off the girl as she sleeps. Her grandmother stirs her to wake for a would-be customer. Karishma pulls the covers back over her head. A few seconds later she sits straight up in bed and throws her hands on her lap, visibly disturbed by what’s about to happen to her. Minutes later she’s sitting in the corner with her hair a mess, she lets her head drop to the side almost hitting her shoulder. Her eyes are dead and dejected.

Greg told me about how long it took to find Karishma. He said he had had droughts in the past, four years doing this work in Mumbai. Periods of no rescues weren’t unusual, but he’d never had a drought like this. For over five months, they didn’t rescue a girl. That’s actually great, except when you know there are girls to be rescued. That’s great, except when you know Karishma was not yet thirteen.

A chance encounter with Karishma’s brother at the train station led the team to Kolhapur, an hour and a half away. On that tip, Kolhapur police rescued Karishma out by the highway from a brothel she had been moved to. Since that time in 2006, Karishma has been moved from home to home. I know of at least five off the top of my head. She even spent some time in Freedom Firm’s home in Ooty. I documented one account from that time in my first support letter, also post number one below.

Karishma went from the Kolhapur Observation home to Home of Hope to Ooty to Home of Hope to Kolhapur Observation Home to Deonar Girls Home in Mumbai back to Kolhapur Observation Home and now this week, to Rescue Foundation in Mumbai. Amee and I learned about this from another rescued girl. It just so happened we were in Mumbai at that time. So, we went to Rescue Foundation to meet Karishma.

Rescue Foundation is a special NGO. The building is something like six floors with a doctor’s office, counseling room, recreation room, a school, and dormitories. Three of the girls there have babies. From the moment I signed in at the gate, I could tell it was a special place. The director invited us into his office on the ground floor. After introductions, he called up to the superintendent of the girls on the first floor. Moments later, at her desk, we did introductions again and explained why we had come. Amee had been there once before, a week or so early, coming late at night. The superintendent hadn’t met her then but now made it clear that coming so late was unacceptable and wasn’t to happen again. We moved on. From there, the relationship took off as we shared Karishma’s story. We told her as much of the history as we knew. Amee and I are both new, coming only this year to Freedom Firm, but we know Karishma. We know the stories. We know what it took to find her. We know the others joy in sharing a short time with her in Ooty. We have seen pictures of her with eggs at Easter, petting the horses, and standing by the lake. We know of her spirit; we know what a special girl she is. We know how she got shifted from home to home and how our counselors were denied visitation. We know the struggle. She means a lot to us, almost as much as the rest of the team.

Karishma walked into the office from behind us. I saw her before Amee. I jumped, hestitated, reacted; I wanted to shake the hand of my long lost sister. But we had never met. She knew Amee from once before. I motioned her to turn. Rising to greet Karishma, Amee embraced her with a strong hug and she responded in turn. No matter how cold or angry these girls might be at a given moment, I’ve never seen them turn down a hug. I’ve never seen them push away love.

Karishma sat and talked to Amee for some time. Then she sat with a blank stare, looking out the window at some trees. I had seen this blank stare before; I saw it in Sangli. Karishma has been rescued over two years now. She had been loved; she had been counseled. But for the past year and a half, Karishma’s friends at Freedom Firm have been unable to see her due to the home she was in. Moving around so much, she had every right to wonder why we had abandoned her. Amee told me later Karishma asked why no one had come to see her. It was out of our control, and Amee explained. Karishma also told that she would refuse to study until her little sister came to visit. Her little sister has remained in Miraj since all this happened. She was staying at an ngo residence school until recently when her grandmother pulled her out and refused to let her go back. This is the same grandmother who stirred Karishma from her sleep so she could serve customers. This is the same grandmother who prostituted her eldest granddaughter. Karishma has every right to be concerned. I called Greg immediately after leaving the home. Apparently he has been tracking the younger sister since Karishma was rescued. For more than two years he has remained in contact with a Reverend in Miraj who watches the sister to be sure she doesn’t end up where Karishma was.

At the home, we assured Karishma she could stay at that place for some time; that the shifting was over. We told her the others would come to visit her soon, but that will only mean something when it happens. For now, Karishma is in a good home. She is safe. Amee and the others can visit her. Karishma has a family with Freedom Firm. She has people looking out for her. She has people looking out for her sister. So for now, she has come home.

Three weeks ago, on the 24^th of October, Freedom Firm’s intervention team led an unprecedented raid on a brothel in Sangli. Members of the Child Welfare Committee came alongside the team and the police to participate in the raid. Two girls were rescued and the brothel keeper arrested. There was no protest at the police station; there was no protest in the streets.

For me, going to Sangli last week was like going home. It was like going back to a place where you began. My work with the Freedom Firm began in Sangli. From this place, I’ve felt the tension of opposition. Those of you who have heard me tell the stories of that first week, my first intervention; you’ve heard me talk about Sangli, about the dark air, about the mud. In Sangli, I’ve found myself in a world I don’t belong, a world I walked naively into but haven’t yet heard the call to leave. It’s a city that changed me. It’s the city I met Shyam. It’s the city where we changed hotels at 4:30 in the morning. It’s the city from which I could never turn back. It’s the city from which I must return. And Karishma reminds me why.

Dear Friend,

The months since I arrived in India have been full. The following paragraphs will attempt to give you a window view of my new life here. Thank you for being a part!

The Office

I spend lots of time getting the office set up. It was used as a factory before and got very dirty. We are trying to fix the electricity, internet, windows, curtains, and buy all the necessary furniture. I feel truly blessed by this office though. It is in a quiet neighborhood with trees and a field across the street. I play football with the neighborhood boys in the afternoons. Right now I am living on the top floor of the office until marriage.

The Work

I am learning every day. It will be some time before I see a case go all the way through the Indian legal system. For now, I enter the court process at different stages for each case. I am daily figuring out all the practical things that go along with this job. Also, I have been traveling quite a bit. I spent time in Mussoorie early on for six weeks learning Hindi. I also spent a long weekend in Calcutta bringing one of our girls back for trial. I also went to Belgaum, Karnataka as we rescued three girls for the first time in that state. Since coming to India, our team has rescued over 10 girls.

The People!!!

Amee (counselor) got engaged!

Anandhi(administrator) had a baby!

Debbie (development) went to the U.S. on a whirlwind support and networking trip.

Gretchen (development) was hired in Minneapolis.

Glen’s (Advocate) parents came to visit.

Greg (director) continues to build his house.

James (regional coordinator) will be leaving Freedom Firm to pursue a career in journalism.

Mala (rehabilitation home director) got a new horse for our horse therapy program.

Shyam (interventions coordinator) led an unprecedented raid in Sangli where members of the Child Welfare Committee came on the raid.

Evan is planning his wedding. Just after making my decision to come to India, I met Leah Joy Taylor. She was working in the International Student office and completing her M.B.A. at Regent. She grew up in a missionary family and her parents currently live in Delhi. She was already planning to go to Delhi in January. Now, she’ll come to Pune with me and we’ll return to the U.S. in May to be married!!!