Prostitution wreaks havoc in Bangladesh park

Local newspaper frowns on "floating prostitutes."

Published February 23, 2000 5:00PM (EST)

"Amoral behavior" is being practiced in a park attached to Bangladesh's
Civil Aviation Authority (CAAB), and a local newspaper is not at all
pleased.

The Dhaka Independent said on Feb. 9 that the CAAB garden has "become a haven for floating prostitutes." Since the government began to crack down on brothels last year, many ladies of the night -- and in some
cases, children of the night -- have migrated (or "floated") to areas where
they know they can make enough money to eat.

Not surprisingly, some of them have ended up on government property, where there never seems to be a shortage of customers.

According to the Independent, the prostitutes are of all ages and "gather at
the garden after sunset and carry on their amoral activities throughout the
night."

A vendor who works nearby told the news source, "Hardly a night passes
without any scuffle between the sex workers and the clients over money
matters."

The Independent also noted that an army policeman was found dead in the
garden a day earlier. Havilder Delwar Hossain was stationed at the nearby
Sixth Armed Police Battalion and, like all soldiers, was barred from
leaving the barracks without permission.

The Independent suggested that Delwar "was a womaniser and addicted to
wine," though his colleague and roommates denied the charges.


By J.A. Getzlaff

J.A. Getzlaff's Daily Planet appears every weekday. Do you have a tip or tale for J.A.? Send it to DailyPlanet@salon.com.

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