Siliguri, March 7: She is the Chhutki (youngest one) of her family, but her life story is like that of Badki (eldest one) of Laga Chunari Mein Daag.

Like Rani Mukherjee in the film, 20-year-old Sumitra (name changed) not only earned enough to support her family, but also helped two of her elder sisters get married by working as a flying sex-worker (FSW) in real life.

Sumitra was barely 15 when she was raped by her boyfriend. “I had no idea about sex then,” she said. “I was shattered. After some days, the woman who owned the house where he had taken me introduced me to another man. I was in need of money. My father had died and my mother’s earnings as a domestic help was not enough for us. In any case, I thought I was already deflowered and how did it matter if I slept with another man. This is how I got sucked into the trade.”

Like other FSWs, she made anything between Rs 500 and Rs 5,000 per session. But after marrying off her sisters, she quit the trade and now works as an “outreach” worker for a voluntary organisation. At the NGO, she earns Rs 5,000 per month. “It is enough for me and my mother and I am happy that I am able to lead a life of dignity.”

But often it is hard to return to normal life. “The lure of easy money makes it difficult to wean them away from the trade,” said Suchandana Mitra, a counsellor at the Mallaguri clinic for sexually transmitted diseases for FSWs run by the West Bengal Voluntary Health Association.

“It is generally the boyfriends who introduce them to the trade,” Mitra said. “Often, the inhibition is lost after the first physical relationship and the girls are willing to take risks if it means extra money.”

Like Sumitra, 18-year-old Mampi, too, had been brought to the flesh trade by her boyfriend. “I am trying to get away,” she said. “I want to get married, settle down and have a family of my own.”

Maya, who is hardly 16 years, got pregnant and had to go for an abortion.

With the trade, sexually transmitted diseases are also on the rise. “But, of late there has been an increase in awareness,” Mitra said. “We had set a target of 400 patients at our centre for this financial year, but we have crossed 580 so far.”