Tulasa Thapa
Encyclopedia
Tulasa Thapa was a 12-year old Nepal
i girl who was kidnapped from her home village of Thankot
near Kathmandu in 1982, smuggled into Mumbai
via the border town of Birganj
in Parsa District
, and sold into prostitution
. She was systematically beaten into submission, then repeatedly rape
d to make her fit for the trade. She was sold to three different brothels in Mumbai, at prices ranging from 5000 to 7000 rupee
s. In addition to the sex work she was forced to do in the brothel
at a minimum of three customers per night (with an average of eight), she was sent to various city hotels dressed in European style clothes to entertain customers for 180 rupees per night until at last a hotel manager reported her to the police. Following the public outcry, the governments of India and Nepal signed a 1985 cooperation agreement addressing the rescue and repatriation of Nepali girls trafficked into brothels in India.
, she was suffering from three types of sexually transmitted disease
s, genital warts and brain tuberculosis
which left her spastic
and permanently using, and finally led to her death. The People’s Health Organisation embarked on a full-fledged "Save Tulasa" campaign, and with the support of the media managed to rescue her. At the hospital, Tulasa was given police protection against possible reprisals from the prostitution industry. After a period of stay in the Dongri Remand Home, she returned to Nepal to take up residence in the Cheshire Home For the Disabled in Jorpati
. Doctors evaluated Tulasa and found her to be severely damaged physically and psychologically. Over the years, she remained incoherent and rambling in her speech. She used a wheelchair full-time and complained that her stomach hurt all the time, and that she could not go to the toilet. Attempts were made to return her to her father, Bir Dhoj Thapa, but she was rejected by his second wife (Tulasa's mother had died shortly after her abduction), and eventually her family stopped visiting her. In 1994 Tulasa broke her leg in a suicide
attempt.
in India
.
The resulting media outcry resulted in the governments of India and Nepal signing a treaty for the rescue and repatriation of Nepali girls from Indian brothels. In India the sentence for trafficking with minors has been hiked from 7 years to 13. Child prostitution has been reduced by about 40% but remains a major problem and no accurate figures are available. According to Reuters
(Masako Iijima, "S. Asia Urged to Unite Against Child Prostitution," Reuters, June 19, 1998), over 40% of 484 prostituted girls rescued during major raids of brothels in Bombay in 1996 were from Nepal.
In 2000, she was back in the news for a short time as the verdict was delivered in the case against her persecutors. In the first report recorded on December 6, 1982, Tulasa had named 32 people responsible for abducting her and selling her to different brothels. These included taximen, the abductors and the brothel-owners. She also named three other Nepali men, Kancha Sarkhi, Lal Bahadur Kani and Uttam Kumar Pariyar, whom the Nepal government had arrested and finally sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment. Out of the 32 people arrested by Bombay police, seven were charged but released due to a lack of evidence. Only one of the nine suspects faced trial, the rest having hidden themselves away. The single accused was released by the judge on grounds of inadequate evidence.
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
i girl who was kidnapped from her home village of Thankot
Thankot
Image:sunset.jpg|Caption1Image:kill.jpg|Caption2Thankot is a large village lies in the west of Kathmandu District in the Bagmati Zone in central america. It lies in the bed of 'Chandragiri hill'. According to the 1980 Nepal census it has a population of 5,755 and has 1,075 households...
near Kathmandu in 1982, smuggled into Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
via the border town of Birganj
Birganj
Birganj is a sub-metropolitan municipality and border town in Parsa District in the Narayani Zone of southern Nepal. It lies 283 km south of the capital Kathmandu, 3 km north of the border of the Indian state of Bihar. As an entry point to Nepal from Patna and Calcutta it is also known...
in Parsa District
Parsa District
-Village Development Committees :*Alau*Amarpatti*Auraha*Bagahi*Bagbana*Bageswori*Bahauri Pidari*Bahurbamatha*Basadilwa*Basantpur*Belwa Parsouni*Beriya Birta*Bhawanipur*Bhedihari*Bhisawa*Bijbaniya*Bindabasini*Biranchibarba*Birganj...
, and sold into prostitution
Prostitution in India
In India, prostitution is legal only in metro cities like Mumbai but illegal in other parts of the country., but a number of related activities, including soliciting in a public place, keeping a brothel, pimping and pandering, are outlawed.-History:In ancient India, there was a practice of having...
. She was systematically beaten into submission, then repeatedly rape
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
d to make her fit for the trade. She was sold to three different brothels in Mumbai, at prices ranging from 5000 to 7000 rupee
Rupee
The rupee is the common name for the monetary unit of account in India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan, Mauritius, Seychelles, Maldives, and formerly in Burma, and Afghanistan. Historically, the first currency called "rupee" was introduced in the 16th century...
s. In addition to the sex work she was forced to do in the brothel
Brothel
Brothels are business establishments where patrons can engage in sexual activities with prostitutes. Brothels are known under a variety of names, including bordello, cathouse, knocking shop, whorehouse, strumpet house, sporting house, house of ill repute, house of prostitution, and bawdy house...
at a minimum of three customers per night (with an average of eight), she was sent to various city hotels dressed in European style clothes to entertain customers for 180 rupees per night until at last a hotel manager reported her to the police. Following the public outcry, the governments of India and Nepal signed a 1985 cooperation agreement addressing the rescue and repatriation of Nepali girls trafficked into brothels in India.
Rescue
Ten months later, in November 1982, when she was brought to Bombay's JJ HospitalGrant Medical College and Sir Jamshedjee Jeejebhoy Group of Hospitals
The Grant Medical College, Mumbai is a medical school affiliated to the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences, Nashik. Founded in 1845, it is one of the premier medical institutions in India and is one of the oldest institutions teaching Western medicine in Asia.The Sir Jamsetjee Jeejebhoy...
, she was suffering from three types of sexually transmitted disease
Sexually transmitted disease
Sexually transmitted disease , also known as a sexually transmitted infection or venereal disease , is an illness that has a significant probability of transmission between humans by means of human sexual behavior, including vaginal intercourse, oral sex, and anal sex...
s, genital warts and brain tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
which left her spastic
Spasticity
Spasticity is a feature of altered skeletal muscle performance in muscle tone involving hypertonia, which is also referred to as an unusual "tightness" of muscles...
and permanently using, and finally led to her death. The People’s Health Organisation embarked on a full-fledged "Save Tulasa" campaign, and with the support of the media managed to rescue her. At the hospital, Tulasa was given police protection against possible reprisals from the prostitution industry. After a period of stay in the Dongri Remand Home, she returned to Nepal to take up residence in the Cheshire Home For the Disabled in Jorpati
Jorpati
Jorpati is a village in Kathmandu District in the Bagmati Zone of central Nepal. At the time of the 1991 Nepal census it had a population of 10796 and had 1988 households in it....
. Doctors evaluated Tulasa and found her to be severely damaged physically and psychologically. Over the years, she remained incoherent and rambling in her speech. She used a wheelchair full-time and complained that her stomach hurt all the time, and that she could not go to the toilet. Attempts were made to return her to her father, Bir Dhoj Thapa, but she was rejected by his second wife (Tulasa's mother had died shortly after her abduction), and eventually her family stopped visiting her. In 1994 Tulasa broke her leg in a suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
attempt.
Death and media outcry
She was released from her institution in 1995, seemingly cured, but had a relapse and died that same year at age 24 of the tuberculosis she had acquired while enslaved as a sex workerSex worker
A sex worker is a person who works in the sex industry. The term is usually used in reference to those in the sex industry that actually provide such sexual services, as opposed to management and staff of such industries...
in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
.
The resulting media outcry resulted in the governments of India and Nepal signing a treaty for the rescue and repatriation of Nepali girls from Indian brothels. In India the sentence for trafficking with minors has been hiked from 7 years to 13. Child prostitution has been reduced by about 40% but remains a major problem and no accurate figures are available. According to Reuters
Reuters
Reuters is a news agency headquartered in New York City. Until 2008 the Reuters news agency formed part of a British independent company, Reuters Group plc, which was also a provider of financial market data...
(Masako Iijima, "S. Asia Urged to Unite Against Child Prostitution," Reuters, June 19, 1998), over 40% of 484 prostituted girls rescued during major raids of brothels in Bombay in 1996 were from Nepal.
In 2000, she was back in the news for a short time as the verdict was delivered in the case against her persecutors. In the first report recorded on December 6, 1982, Tulasa had named 32 people responsible for abducting her and selling her to different brothels. These included taximen, the abductors and the brothel-owners. She also named three other Nepali men, Kancha Sarkhi, Lal Bahadur Kani and Uttam Kumar Pariyar, whom the Nepal government had arrested and finally sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment. Out of the 32 people arrested by Bombay police, seven were charged but released due to a lack of evidence. Only one of the nine suspects faced trial, the rest having hidden themselves away. The single accused was released by the judge on grounds of inadequate evidence.
External links and references
- Interview with Dr. Ishwarprasad Gilada at Spotlight
- Victims of the Dar from The Hindu Online, September 29, 1996
- The shade of Tulasa seeks justice by Kanchana Suggu
- Robert I. Freidman, "India’s Shame: Sexual Slavery and Political Corruption Are Leading to An AIDS Catastrophe," The Nation, 8 April 1996.