End of the show
| Many women did not want to leave the grounds. After so many years, they had begun to familiarise themselves with the vagabond circus lifestyle – carving out homes for themselves, even raising children in the makeshift establishments. |
| A number of Russian women had also settled in the Raj Mahal Circus camps. |
| Rescued children were first brought to a Juvenile Detention Centre like this one in Amaravati, Maharashtra. |
| Some of the circus performers and their families argued that their lives had improved since arriving at the circus. |
| Philip Holmes, founder of the Esther Benjamins Trust offered the rescued girls his mobile to call their families after being rescued. |
| In an attempt to circumvent legal labour requirements, the circus owners sign agreements with the children's parents, offering money advances as low as NPR 1000. A clause also states that the parents will have to pay a fine of an unspecified amount if they wish to take back their children. |
| Although initially hesitant, the young girls were eventually convinced of the prospects available to them outside the circus. |
The calm in the Maharastrian town of Akola was suddenly disturbed on Friday, 14 June 2008, when the local police barged through the small gate of the Raj Mahal Circus, shoving the dumbstruck guard aside. The Esther Benjamins Memorial Foundation, a Nepali NGO, had information that the circus had been using Nepali children to perform dangerous stunts. Police, under pressure from the district magistrate, had agreed to conduct the raid.
As the plan went forward, the police formed a cordon around the entire area, while Dilu and Shailaja, two workers with the Foundation, scouted the area behind the main circus arena. They found some ten tents that were being used as living quarters for the performers; as the search proceeded, within an hour 20 children had been located. Dilu told the children in Nepali, "We've come to get you out of here." But the girls responded in unison, "We don't want to leave!" According to Shailaja, this is a standard response, explaining that "as long as they are inside the circus compound, they are so afraid of the owner that they will say anything." But even after much cajoling some remained adamant that they did not want to leave. "Did anyone come to help us in our villages when we didn't have enough money to eat?" asked Aparna, a 15-year old girl from Panityanki, in the eastern district of Jhapa.
Suddenly, a man emerged and loudly demanded, "Which law allows you to enter and take these children away?" He faltered as he swivelled and took full stock of the situation, his eyes on the police. But Nandita Rao, with the Indian organisation ChildLine, was ready with the answer, citing India's Juvenile Act, the Bonded Labour Act and the Minimum Wage Act. In response, the man – whose name was Siraj Khan, the owner of the circus – produced contracts signed by uneducated parents on behalf of their children. But his confidence dissipated as Rao proclaimed the contracts void, citing a 1933 law that nullifies contracts signed on behalf of children by their parents for bonded labour.
The police placed the children into a police truck, where they cried as they waited. They were then driven to the juvenile court to get their statements, prior to appearing at a child-welfare council. At the court, an amazing transformation took place – all the crying stopped, as previously rescued girls were introduced to them. Suddenly, they were all smiling and laughing. "Of course I want to leave," Aparna said. "I want to go to school and to Kathmandu to work."
As the children talked animatedly, Siraj Khan's atrocities slowly came to light. "I was beaten unconsciousness with a rope," said K R Lama, age 17. She also recounted an incident when the girls wanted to give the male children in the circus some clothes during Rakhi; when Khan found out, he was enraged and burned all of the clothes. One girl had a broken arm, while another had a metal support in her thigh, from falling off the trapeze. Another girl claimed, "When my hands used to bleed from working the trapeze for so long, Khan would pour hot candle wax on the wounds to stop the bleeding." They all referred to Khan as maalik.
"The circuses prefer Nepali girls because they're fairer and have Mongolian features, which appeal to the audience," says Philip Holmes, founder of the Esther Benjamins Memorial Foundation, based in Kathmandu. This is close to the reason given for the Nepali girls being more acceptable in India's sex-work rings. According to reports, there are approximately 30 large circuses and some 300 smaller ones across India. This particular raid was considered a success – 20 children were rescued, 17 girls and three boys. Among the 17, 13 were minors and seven were legal adults. Seven were Nepali nationals, while the others were of Nepali origin, from Darjeeling, Assam and Siliguri. "The only thing we can do is keep doing these raids, and hope that we can put all these bastards behind bars," says Holmes.
~ Min Ratna Bajracharya is a Kathmandu-based photojournalist, active in the field for 20 years.