After NGO worker’s murder, ID cards set to be introduced for sex workers

The NGO whose worker Kabita Roy was killed last Wednesday has decided to introduce identity card of the sex workers in the city. The decision was taken after the murder of the woman who was a caretaker of the NGO.

The committee has decided to introduce identity card for the sex workers who lives in Sonagachi area and who come in the area for sex trade.

Presently, the city has five red light areas – Sonagachi, Chetla-Lakhar Math, Kalighat, Kidderpore and Boubazar. The sex workers for all these areas will come under this project.

It should be recalled that the woman Kabita Roy, caretaker of a short-stay home for destitute children at Burtala in North Kolkata was killed and two minor girls – who had been rescued from an adjacent red light area a day ago – were taken away from the home.

Last Wednesday morning, the body Kabita Roy (60) was found in a room of the destitute home situated at the second floor of an NGO’s office on Nilmoni Mitra Street. Police are yet to determine the time of her murder.

No one had turned up at the NGO’s office on Tuesday as it was holiday. Police suspect that the minor girls might have murdered the woman as they did not want to go back home.

However, it should be recalled that the sex workers threaten to boycott the poll in 2014 for various demand.

Their key demands were that sex workers should be given the status of workers so that they can get government benefits available to workers of unorganised sectors, 

government recognition for their self regulatory board and revoking the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956, which results in police harassment.

Over the decade, disaffection and disenchantment with major political parties have welled up among sex 

workers to such an extent that they were considering the option of boycotting the General Elections.

“We will hold various meetings in the city to grow consensus among the citizenry about the daily plight of these women. The decision of giving identity card will also be discussed in those meetings. The city has around 20,000 sex workers.

Sonagachi alone has 10,000 sex workers in trade. Among those, 7,000 sex workers are living in Sonagachi. The others come from outside,” said Samarajit Jana, the adviser of Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee.

The murder incident at Sonagachi, has made the NGO more cautious. Kabita rescued two girls who were brought here for sex trade. Kabita took those abducted girls to her custody. But those two girls went missing as the police found Kabita’s body.

The girls, both 16-years-old and hailing from Gopalganj in Bongaon, had come to meet their “boyfriends”, whom they had met through Facebook, around midnight. They were rescued from Premchand Boral Street in Bowbazar on Monday and brought to the NGO’s office.