[www.keralites.net] Mass Weddings In India's 'Prostitute Village'

 

A mass wedding and engagement ceremony has been held in a village in India's Gujarat state for the daughters of sex workers under a plan to save them from being pushed into prostitution.

Seven couples were married and 15 others were engaged during the event on Sunday in the village of Vadia in Banaskantha district. Vadia is often called the "village of prostitutes".

The girls - who come from the Saraniya community - traditionally do not marry and work as prostitutes in nearby towns and cities.

The event was organised by Vicharta Samuday Samarthan Manch (VSSM), a non-government organisation which works with marginalised nomadic communities.

VSSM's Mittal Patel said no one had previously wanted to marry a girl from Vadia and men in the village are known to make money by pimping the women to clients.

The brides were all 18 or older. They were dressed in colourful saris while the grooms wore long tunics and gold turbans.

Twelve girls, below the age of 18 were also engaged at the event. Once married or engaged, a young woman can not be forced into the sex trade, anti-prostitution campaigners say.

The young couples exchanged rings and sweets as a priest gave instructions from a microphone. Their parents said their weddings would take place when they turned 18.

About 3,000 people from the surrounding villages and several government officials attended Sunday's celebrations.

Social activists, who organised and funded the 900,000-rupee ($18,000) event, said it would end Vadia's flesh trade.

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