Fake encounter victim's wife crawls out from flesh trade
Source: Chronicle News Service / Chingkhei Luwang

Imphal, August 17 2022: Though there are numerous reasons for women indulging in flesh trade in the state, the draconian and controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) and fake encounters staged under its veil also had a hand in some ways in making women to get into sex work as some destitute widows whose husbands were killed in fake encounters walked the path unwillingly with no one to turn to for sustaining their families Forty years old Lanchenbi (name changed), whose husband was killed in a fake encounter had to indulge in sex work to support her five children.

But she successfully crawled out from flesh trade after much struggle as she is now at a manageable stage to sustain her family with support from her children.

There are also some others like Lanchenbi, who are victims of armed conflict and got hit by poverty with no one to support them and had to continue indulging in flesh trade.

Speaking to The People's Chronicle, Lanchenbi recalled her life of misery, pain and struggle subsequent to the shocking incident of her husband getting lulled in a fake encounter incident with security forces in 2007."I still remember the day, when my husband was called out by one of his friends on August 11, 2007 and found dead in a fake encounter at Sekmai the next day," she recounted.

Informing that she was in her mid-twenties when her husband died and was left with five children (four daughters and a son), Lanchenbi said that she had a hard time in trying to maintain the family and bring up her children.

She had done all possible menial labour, from working at construction sites, in agriculture, selling vegetables, shoes, clothes and also poultry farming from time to time.

Yet, the meagre amount she got never sufficed to feed her children and sustain the family.

As such, she had to indulge in sex work along with taking up other odd jobs from 2009 to maintain the family and bring up her five children.

In later years, she got loan though, which helped in sustaining the family, she remarked.

Recalling that her last daughter was just a baby when her father died, Lanchenbi informed that her first daughter has completed her graduation now.

She went to school without fee from class III to X as she always came in the first three positions in her class.

In class X examination, she scored 92 per cent and so she only spent on tuition fee and her admission fee was free in pursuing higher secondary class.

After graduation, she is making 'Kouna' bags and giving tuition to young students to support the family, Lanchenbi informed, while lamenting that the failure to make her daughter pursue medical studies will always be one of her greatest regrets in life.

The second daughter is now in the college and also supporting the family as a private tutor, while the third one stopped her education after Class VIII and now is indulging in embroidery and making of handloom items, thus helping the family.

The fourth child (son), who recently completed his Class 12 exam, also helped the family by working as masonry besides managing his own school fees.

The last daughter completed her Class X exam with high marks and now attending a higher secondary school with free uniform and admission fee, she expressed with subtle pride.

While stating that she faced harassment from her in-laws in early days after the death of her husband, but stayed put there to bring up her children, Lanchenbi said that she stopped indulging in sex work since 2019 as her children were growing up and were able to help in sustaining the family.

"If my husband was there, I might not have gotten into this trade where one is highly discriminated and stigmatised.

I'm both the mother and father of my children.

So, I have to bring them up to become a better people in their lives.

I could even sacrifice my life for their betterment," she continued.

Lanchenbi said that she is fuming with anger towards the police, for killing her husband for merely for receiving gallantry awards.

She further said that "AFSPA or the state that imposed it has made me to walk the undesirable path in one way or other to support the children and sustain the family as I would have never become a sex worker if my husband was alive".

There are many other fake encounter victims' wives, who sustained their families and brought up their children through other means, but there are also some with no one to turn to and left with no choice but to indulge in flesh trade, Lanchenbi continued, while adding that some of her friends had to indulge in sex work as they are left with no choice for making a livelihood and they are not so fortunate like her to crawl out from the flesh trade amidst the discrimination and stigmatisation of the society.

Lanchenbi expressed her desire to help the widows, sex workers who are looked down by the society and victims of armed conflict in every possible way she could.

She lamented that it's been 15 years since her husband was killed in a fake encounter incident, but those involved have never been punished and justice is yet to be delivered.

According to academician Dr Malem Ningthouja, sex work is a form of paid service where the body becomes a commodity and the service is a form of labour.

While making it clear that not all victims of AFSPA become sex workers, he explained that some economically helpless women who are affected by armed conflict might indulge in sex work for survival.

The government, relatives, philanthropists, neighbours, etc., must offer a better earning opportunity for those who become sex workers because of poverty.

But no institution can help those who become sex worker not because of poverty but because of other reasons.

Overall, customers are responsible for making sex work a profitable service, he observed, while adding that sex work is thriving on a vast scale in a monetised market economy and it will continue to exist as long as there are supplies and demands.

Meanwhile, Extrajudicial Execution Victim Families Association (EEVFAM) president Renu Takhellambam conceded that she has also heard about some victims of AFSPA indulging in sex work because of poverty and for maintaining their families.

There is the dire need to empower women, enhance their status and stop the discrimination with collective efforts of family, people and government to mitigate the problems faced by destitute single women who are victims of the Act in particular and women in general so that it may prevent women from taking up in sex trade albeit unwillingly because of circumstances.

While observing that poor and destitute people usually do not get the benefits of government schemes meant for them, she expressed apprehension that the number of sex workers will increase in the state because of the worsening socio-economic conditions in the state.

"Something is wrong in the society.

One could not sustain their family despite their earning," she continued, while urging women of the state in particular to have the will power and live life with dignity.

Most of the issues in the state including imposition of the draconian AFSPA do not have an ending and in addition to it justice is yet to be delivered to the victims of fake encounter, Renu said, while continuing that impunity given to army personnel by AFSPA has always been a challenging task for them in fighting for the rights of the victims.

Though instances of fake encounter and killing by security personnel have reduced of late, there is always a lingering fear of re-witnessing fake killing cases as AFSPA is not fully scrapped from the state and central security forces still enjoy immunity from prosecution under this Act.

Thus, Renu suggested that authorities concern repeal the draconian AFSPA, 1958 so as to end the problems created by it and deliver justice to its numerous victims.

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