Report of the Committee appointed by the Secretary of State for India to inquire into the rules, regulations, and practice in the Indian cantonments and elsewhere in India, with regard to prostitution and to the treatment of venereal disease : together with minutes of evidence and appendices.

  • Great Britain. India Office. Committee on Prostitution in India.
Date:
1893
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report of the Committee appointed by the Secretary of State for India to inquire into the rules, regulations, and practice in the Indian cantonments and elsewhere in India, with regard to prostitution and to the treatment of venereal disease : together with minutes of evidence and appendices. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.

    331/524 (page 281)
    Statements and Notes. V AMBALA, 7TH JUNE 1893. — CAPTAIN BAIRNS FAT HER, CANTONMENT MAGISTRATE— KOTWAL OF SADR BAZAR—INSPECTOR OF CANTONMENT POLICE. [The Kotwal thinks that, if so, it is done secretly, and that they do not habitually go from their houses to meet natives. The Police Inspector believes that they do receive natives frequently, whether at home or outside. He has seen them driving to the city 250 with natives.] I do not know whether there is any woman at the head of the chakla. I have never made enquiries, nor have I ever heard of such a woman. If there is such a woman, I, as Cantonment Magistrate, have no concern with her of any sort whatever. We neither pay her nor appoint nor dismiss her; nor do we require anything of her, or take any cognisance of her existence. [The Kotwal states that, when the women used to be inspected there was a mahaldarni over each chakla, whether sadr or regimental. The sadr mahaldarnis were paid from cantonment funds. They looked after the women, reported matters to the police that required report, presented the women for their exam- ination, and reported and sent to hospital women suspected of disease. There are now no such women; the prostitutes are all independent.] There are chaudhris for trades of 260 every description in the bazar—yekka drivers, cartmen, milk sellers, petty grocers, grain sellers of the mandi (grain market), the brokers, the banias—these men being elected by the persons whom they represent, and the first two being subject to the approval of, and dismissal by, the Cantonment Magistrate, who has constant relations with them on account of the large demand for carriage. These two levy fees on all earnings of the drivers, and receive all requisitions (official or private) for carriage and make the neces- sary arrangements. In short, they represent the body in all dealings with the officials and the outside public. In all other cases any orders issued or arrangements made are issued to or made through the chaudhris as representing the body. They receive nothing from Government, and are in no sense Government servants. 270 The segregation of prostitutes in two quarters can be paralleled in the case of many of the other occupations of the bazar. The butchers live all together, the grain sellers in their market, the cow-keepers and vegetable sellers, the leather makers and tanners in a separate quarter, the copper-smiths—in short, almost all the trades are every bit as much segregated as the prostitutes are. Even the grocers and cookshops are mainly confined to a single part of the bazar. These people, as a fact, live so by general custom or for convenience. There are no rules or orders on the subject. If a copper-smith lived outside his quarter, I should take no action of my own motion ; but if the noise was complained of by the neighbours, I should make him live in the copper-smiths' quarter. [The Inspector of Police states that, as a fact, no such order has been passed for the past 12 years, because there never has been any complaint; since, in fact, the people do not 280 live outside their quarters ] I should be particularly ready to interfere in the case of butchers, where religious feelings are concerned. I should peremptorily' refuse to allow, or I should close, a butcher's shop in the Hindu quarter. If a woman known to be a prostitute settled outside the chaklas, I should, as already explained, try to move her into the chaklas in order to prevent the risk of disturbance ; and this whether she was frequented by British or natives; and in the case of well-founded complaints by the neighbours, I should certainly move her. That is the extent of the control exercised by us over their residence. 1 do not know whether rules have been framed under the Act regarding the residence of persons following certain trades ; but I should certainly act as above. 1 wish to explain that I consider the occupation of prostitutes, by its nature, to require stricter control and supervision than others, as it is more likely than any other 290 to give rise to disturbances, especially between natives and Europeans, which are par- ticularly to be deprecated. A woman is absolutely free to leave cantonments at pleasure ; she is absolutely free to return at will. [The Kotwal and Inspector of Police state that when the women used to be examined they had to get a permit to leave, and to state where they were going and information used to be sent there so as to bring them on the registers. Since the regimental chaklas have been abolished and inspection discontinued (four or five years ago) this is wholly at an end.l 1 have no more power to exclude people from canton- ments than I have to expel them. In fact, I have no power to exclude, though I can expel under Notification 617, already quoted, and that only. 300 The Sadr Bazar has a population of 23,000 souls. It may be defined as that portion of cantonments, outside regimental lines, -which is inhabited by natives. The total population of cantonments is 51,020 souls. [The Kotwal and Inspector of Police states that there are now about 40 or 45 prostitutes attached to the British chakla, and about the same number to the native. There may be 100 altogether in this cantonment. The numbers in the native chakla fluctuate much less than those in the British chakla. They are always lowest in the hot weather. The maximum will probably be 80 to 90 in the British, and 45 or so in the native, chakla.] I have no concern with the number of prostitutes in cantonments, and I have never known of any official nolice being taken of the numbers being too small. [The Inspector 310 of Police says the same, and so does the Kotwal for the Sadr.] I have never heard of money being advanced for the purpose of supplementing them.