Ajeet singh was in his teens when he decided to do something that people will think twice before doing. In 1988, while attending a wedding in Varanasi, his hometown; he decided to help a nautch girl by adopting her children and giving them an opportunity to lead a better life.
According to the Better India report, Ajeet said, "The way people were looking at her and treating her was something that shocked and deeply saddened me. It was then and there that I decided to do something to free girls like her from such a profession."
This path caused him to face lot of criticism and comments from society and family. "Of course my decision was not welcomed by my family or society. I faced huge opposition from everyone. But this is what I wanted to do," he said.
This was just the first step in this path, he then went on to teach the poor children in the red light areas's of the Varanasi in his spare.That is when he realised that is situation is much worse than what he has expected.
"The whole profession and system are so complex that providing mere education to the kids or spreading awareness about health, HIV, etc., cannot solve it. The issue is slavery and the need to abolish the system of sex trafficking. It is only then that girls can be saved to lead better lives," he said.
"Today, I can say Varanasi is almost free from child prostitution," claims Ajeet.
Ajeet was not satisfied with current progress and wanted to take big step towards reducing the sex tracking. "Even the police did not do anything and we thought it was time to bring this issue out in the open," he added.
Singh started a NGO called Guria and the main objective of the organization was busting pimps and brothel keepers. Over 1400 have been filed by the NGO and Ajeet. Guria also ensures that the bail is not given in such cases. The rescued girls are rehabilitated and educated so that they can work in any field of their choice.
"Our idea is not just to provide one-time support. These girls are like our children. You cannot just provide clothing or just food to your children. You have to give them overall support. This is what we do for these girls," he said.
Because of his work, Ajeet was regularly get threatened and attacked but he still continued to work for the freedom of these girls.
"Often, these traffickers who get bail come out quickly and start doing what they did earlier. We make sure they stay in jail for a long time. Some of them have been in jail for about four to five years now," says Ajeet.
Bhaskar is a graduate in Journalism and mass communication from Amity school of communication, Noida Twitter: bhaskar_ragha