An awful, barbaric Banchhara tradition:
Among the Banchhara community there is a custom to ‘dedicate’ their eldest daughter to prostitution. Young girls are initiated into prostitution by the community in rural Madhya Pradesh, where male members of the community live off the earnings of their daughters and sisters. According to the Banchhara custom, once the girl becomes 12 years of age, she makes a declaration that she is ready to become a prostitute. This is made at a well-organised function attended by her mother, sisters and female relatives.
Banchhara women are divided in two groups following a ‘division of labor’: women allowed to marry are called Bhattawadi and the women reserved for prostitution are known as Khelawadi. Bhattawadi women follow this custom with their daughters so the custom perpetuates.
(H/T: Tito Salgado)
