Lil Prakash Chand
Lil Prakash Chand (Journalist)
Until a few years ago, anyone visiting the local markets of Samundratar, Ramati and Mishra Bhanjyang from Gyangfedi used to have Indian currency in their pockets.
The locals often suspected that the Indian currency used by the visitors to buy groceries was earned by supplying girls to the brothels in Mumbai.
“I was involved in animal husbandry in my village, and I used to see Indian currency being used by the locals in Gyangfedi. I also had a retail shop and a hotel in Samundratar, and the use of Indian currency among the people was very common in the area,” a hotel entrepreneur told CIN.
There are almost 800 Tamang households in the village of Ghyangfedi, and the data of different organizations shows that almost 300 girls in the area are sold in brothels. President of Srijanshil Red Panda Mothers’ Group Shanta Maya Tamangwishes that nobody reminds her about the matter of the past. But, everyone coming to the village asks her about the same thing repeatedly.
Gyangfedi has earned an identity of being a major source for supplying girls to the brothels.
These days, the adolescents in the region have to think twice before donning new clothes. “It is unfair to suspect everyone in the village of being involved in trafficking just because some people were involved in supplying girls to the brothels in the past,” said Nara Bahadur Tamang, a farmer of Ghyangfedi. “The new generation is struggling because of the notorious identity of the village,” he added.
Gyangfedi lies 37-kilometer north-east of Nuwakot’s headquarter Bidur. The locals are still deprived of human rights like education, health, among other basic needs.
According to the principle of Gyangfedi Secondary School, Prem Syangtan, the locals of the region fell into the trap of supplying girls to the brothels in the past as they lived from hand-to-mouth. He added further that the locals now have escaped such awful fate.
“The government should work for the development of the region, and focus on education, employment and awareness among the people,” he said, adding the school has been working hard to improve the quality and access of education in the region.
“The people may have opted to sell girls to make a living,” Shanta Maya said, adding the situation is different at present, and the mothers’ group is also organizing different programs to make people aware in the village.
Meanwhile, the number of girls missing in the region has not stopped yet. According to District Police Office Chief of Nuwakot, Basanta Kunwar, human trafficking has not stopped yet. “During the search operation, only a few numbers of girls are found,” he added.
The ward chairman of Gyangfedi, Sun Bahadur Tamang, was sentenced to jail for 37 years some eight months ago by the Nuwakot District Court for his involvement in flesh trade. He was accused of selling 200 girls and operating a brothel. The court also fined Tamang Rs 250,000 for the crime.
Meanwhile, Kunwar also said that the number of trafficking has been declining slightly since 2014. Police have already listed more than 25 traffickers in the wanted list.
The guardians don’t file complaints after the girls go missing. A few years back, the number of trafficking was massive. The traffickers were so powerful that they used to threaten the people and organizations conducting awareness programs.
“Awareness programs have helped reduce the number of trafficking,” ward chairman Tamang said, adding that the traffickers are punished as per the law.
Tamang said the ward is preparing to allocate Rs six million to organize a different program for raising awareness against trafficking.
“We were afraid to organize awareness in Gyangfedi. The traffickers used to threaten us. The number of trafficking has declined in recent years, but there is still a long way to go,” Deputy Director of Maiti Nepal Achyut Nepal said.
Meanwhile, Yobindra Singh Tamang, chairman of Dupcheshwor Rural Municipality, expressed his dissatisfaction over the statistics of trafficking. “There are organizations which say there is a rise in girls trafficking in the area. They are doing so just to run the organization,” he said.
The youths in the region are trying to improve the reputation of the village by being involved in animal husbandry, farming, and improving the quality of education. All the people in the region are trying their best to change the identity of the village.
Gyangdfedi, Pagar of Gaukharkha, Vhepar of Rautbesi, Karejung, Tapsapurang of Betini, Pakha, Namsapurang, among others are in high risk of girls trafficking.
The author works for CIN Network. Originally published on CIN Network. Translated work.
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