Chandigarh, June 1 :
Sex has reared its ugly head in the residential quarters of Chandigarh, staining the city's clean reputation.
The police have ordered a probe into an alleged flesh trade thriving in a Sector 44 house after a former resident of the house, who was admittedly part of the racket, lodged a complaint with the police.
Sangeeta, 31, who claims to have 'serviced' customers for years at the den, says she was thrown out as she is of little use now. Crippled with a fractured leg, Sangeeta suffers from a deadly disease: terminal bone cancer.
The house, Sangeeta claims, belongs to her husband Vipin's first wife Sunita, who allegedly runs the flesh-trade racket.
Sangeeta - who has two children who were thrown with her - has demanded an FIR be lodged against Vipin, who, with an accomplice, forced her and several other innocent girls into the trade.
She confessed she had been luring girls herself. She also admitted that her customers included police officers and influential people, which could be the reason why her earlier complaints were not acted upon.
Sangeeta's neighbours had noted down the numbers of the vehicles of Sunita's clients and the list has been submitted to the police, said the Lawyers for Human Rights International, an organisation which has taken up Sangeeta's case.
Sangeeta said it all began in Ambala when Sunita asked her to come to her house to teach her son. 'I had no idea what lay ahead. As soon as I reached Sunita's house, she bolted me in a room with Vipin who raped me. A few days later I was asked to come again for a check-up and was raped again by Vipin,' she added.
Later Vipin's accomplice, Sureshtha, told her family that she was sharing a sexual relationship with Vipin. 'I had no option but to flee with the two from Ambala. I even married Vipin later.'
Vipin and his two accomplices used to lure girls in a similar way, Sangeeta said. Some girls working for Sunita were arrested, but released because of the high connections Sunita had, she claimed.
Her only hope now lay with her parents. 'I want to go back to Ambala and die peacefully there,' she cried.
A local daily had taken up Sangeeta's cause first. Since then, social organisations and residents have stepped in. The education of her two children, Meha and Karan, however, will be taken up by Cancer Sahyog, a social organisation. Efforts are also being made for Sangeeta's stay at the PGI gurdwara. Bharat Vikas Parishad, another social service organisation, has offered to provide all medical expenses and other financial assistance. Efforts are also being by the organisation to rehabilitate her children or get them adopted.
However, doctors at the PGI here said that in Sangeeta's condition, admission to the institute will be of little help.
Some of Sangeeta's neighbours could not care less. 'She was in the flesh trade and is paying for her sins,' a neighbour said, adding it should serve as a lesson for others in the trade.
While Sangeeta is writhing in pain, what hurts her more is that even her parents do not want to see her. 'It is true I fled home. But I want to be with them now. My children will then become good citizens and I will be able to die in peace. Bas mein unke pass jaana chahti hoon (I just want to be near them),' she says with tears in her eyes.
The police feel Sangeeta's revelations are too serious to be ignored. 'What she has said will have wide repercussions in the city. Chandigarh so far has ensured that such things remain indoors,' a senior officer said.
'It is bound to lead to a wider
network of the trade. It could go as far as Delhi too. The whispers about Chandigarh that were heard earlier seem to be surfacing with a vengeance now. Every sector will have to be watched closely,' he added.