INDIA - HOLY WHORE STORY

Sex slaves can be found all over parts of southern India as a result of an ancient Hindu practice that sanctifies prostitution. A Devadasi, which translates as "Servant of God," is a girl who is "dedicated" by her parents to dance at a temple. In reality, the practice of Devadasi is about selling young girls into a lifetime of prostitution for as little as £6. Although it is officially illegal, there are tens of thousands of Devadasi working in city brothels or selling their bodies on the streets, the impoverished victims of modern India's booming commercial flesh trade. We met 31-year-old, former Devadasi Shobha Dasti, who was pimped by her parents and systematically raped in the guise of religious devotion until she finally managed to escape. This is her story.

"One night, when I was about 11, the Hindu goddess Yellamma came to my mother in a dream. When she told the local priest about her vision, he insisted that it was a sign from the goddess that she must devote me as a Devadasi in return for my sister, who left the system a few years earlier after marrying one of her 'patrons.' He warned her that if I wasn't initiated then my brother would be punished by the goddess. So it was decided that I would be sacrificed in her place.

"The Devadasi dedication ceremony is very much like a traditional Hindu wedding, but without any husband. The whole community gathered together and I was bought elaborate dresses, gold necklaces, jewels, silver toe rings, and all the other symbols of marriage. I was only a child and didn't understand the significance of what was happening. I just felt happy to be the center of attention, and to be wearing a real sari for the first time. I was becoming a woman. I remember my sister and brother being incredibly upset about what was going on. They kept fighting with my mother, saying 'What about her studies? Why do you want to ruin her life?'  But to me it was the most exciting day of my life.

"After the initiation ceremony life went back to normal for about a year and a half, living at home and attending school as normal. I know now that the community were waiting for me to reach puberty. Then one morning, when I was around 13, a male employee of a local hospital offered my mother Rs. 500 (¬£6) in exchange for my virginity. It is traditional for a Devadasi's mother or grandmother to arrange their sexual partners, and so it was my own mother that sent me that night to the dark X-ray room at the hospital, to be sexually abused by a complete stranger. I had no idea what was happening to me, but I was terrified. A marriage is supposed to be a moment of pride, of celebration, but for me it was a crude business exchange.  Even after all these years, the memory of that night brings me to tears.

"The next encounter was with my sister's own husband, who had invested some money in my expensive dedication ceremony. According to tradition, the Devadasi's patron is always entitled to some return on his investment, so as soon as he found out that the first abuse had happened he started pestering my sister saying, 'Now I want to use this girl, I want her to come to me.' He said that if she didn't make it happen then he would leave her, and began simultaneously bribing my mother with small amounts of money each week.

"Finally it was arranged, without my consent, that I would stay with my sister and her husband every weekend between Friday and Sunday, during which time I would be used by him at his will. During the week I was still attending school and living at home, but as soon as Friday drew near I would begin to feel sick with dread, visualising my attacker and what was going to happen to me. It was like living in hell. The abuse continued for almost five years, during which time became pregnant and carried two of his children – a boy and a girl.

"When my daughter was a year old, I secretly joined an awareness and protection programme for Devadasi women in the district and started doing some volunteer work for them. I vividly remember one of the early meetings I attended, when a lawyer came to speak about the legal rights of women. That was the first time in my life that I had ever heard of 'consensual sex,' and the news that the Devadasi practice was not permissible under Indian law. That was like a bomb going off in my head. It sounds ridiculous, but before then I never knew that it was illegal for someone to touch me without my consent. It was then that I started thinking about my own situation.

"As the months passed, the organisation started paying me a small amount of money each month, which finally gave me the courage to say no to my abuser. It made me independent. I knew I could take care of myself and my children without going back to him. I said to my sister, "You do what you want, but I am never going back."

"After the first year of working, I was promoted from volunteer to a women's group leader earning Rs. 1000 per month, of which I gave Rs. 800 to my mother to stop her from pressuring me to go back to that man. Financially it was a struggle to buy food, bus fares and look after my children – just basic survival – but it was worth it to be free.

"Because of my past I won't ever be able to get married, but life is very different now to what it was. I lead a womens' organisation called MASS with 2,500 members, and have become a community spokesperson and campaigner. Whatever happened to me as a child, I am my own woman now, but there are still hundreds of children throughout the country at risk of sexual exploitation – their parents acting as their pimps."

SARAH HARRIS