You think you know India in 2025? We see the shiny highways, the non-stop infrastructure development, the "Beti Bachao Beti Padhao" slogans. We’re a nation obsessed with progress, right? We’re showing the world we’ve arrived. But as Geetanjali Babbar, founder of Kat-katha, says, "Come with me in the brothel and then you actually get to see the city. The real situation will be visible." Forget what you see in the movies. Forget the "empowerment" narratives. We're about to pull back the curtain on a reality so brutal, you won't be able to ignore it. This isn't a story from the 1980s. This is happening right now . The Great Lie: "Happy Hookers" and the Illusion of Choice You walk into a brothel in Delhi. A girl, looking happy and confident, calls out to you. "Come, come," she smiles. You think, "Friend, she needs me. She’s doing this by her own choice." You are dangerously wrong. Geetanjali tells a story that will break your heart. She met a woman who said, "Ma'am, we hide roti (bread) in a plastic bag inside the toilet flush. So that if we don't get a customer for hours, we can quickly go to the toilet, eat that one bite, and come out." Why? Because they get no food until they attend a certain number of customers. That smile? It’s not choice. It’s a mask worn to survive. If she looks sad, you won't pick her. If you don't pick her, she doesn't eat. If she doesn’t eat, she gets beaten. The reality for girls as young as 10 or 12 who are kidnapped and trafficked is a living hell. They are force-fed alcohol through a funnel to keep them drunk all day. They are forced to attend 30, 40, even 50 clients. Per day. Geetanjali met one woman who attended 70 clients in a single day. "Now you can imagine about her body," Geetanjali says. "No, It is like a dead body... she is limp like a dead body." Who Are the Clients? The Answer Will Make You Sick So who are these clients? Monsters hiding in the shadows? Think again. They are all around us. College Boys: Geetanjali sees "a lot of boys from college." Going to a brothel is a "wow factor." A way to seem "cool." Teenagers: She once saw a 14-15 year old boy... in his school uniform. Corporate Professionals: Men who leave their corporate jobs and go to the brothel every day before going home. "Celebrations": "Hey! It's my birthday. Come, let's go to the brothel." These aren't hidden figures. They are our colleagues, our classmates, our neighbours. And they are fuelling a system built on torture. The Systemic Trap: Why Can't They Just Leave? This is the question everyone asks. "It's 2025. She has a phone, right? Why not just call the police?" Here's the brutal truth: The police are part of the process. Police Complicity: The police get their hafta (weekly bribe). They get free services. According to psychologist Swati Ji, they are part of the nexus that protects these spas and brothels. If an honest cop tries to work against it, they are immediately transferred. The "Rescue" Trap: What if a raid does happen? The girls are "rescued" and sent to government-run Nari Niketans (women's homes). The stories from these homes are so bad that one woman told Geetanjali, "Keep me in a brothel for the rest of my life, but don't send me to a Nari Niketan." Why? She said, "Not even a single night passed when I was there that the business was not done... We are sent drugged night after night outside." Running is Death: A girl who tried to run was caught by brokers. They pushed her from the top of 35 steep stairs. She died at the bottom. The message was sent. This isn't a job. It's a prison where the guards, the system, and the clients are all working together. The Sickness We Ignore: Rape Isn't About S*x If you still think this is about "men's needs" or that the women "provoked" it, you need to hear this. The clients aren't just "using" these women. They are torturing them. Biting their breasts. Beating them with belts. Burning them with cigarette butts. This isn't a "profession." It's violent abuse. And this mentality goes beyond the brothel. Swati Ji, a psychologist working with victims, points out that this sickness has infected our entire society. She shares reports of: Rape of a 3-year-old child. Rape of an 80-year-old woman. Rape of dogs. Rape of a monitor lizard. Rape of dead bodies dug up from graves. This isn't about sex. It's about a violent, dehumanizing power trip. And it's the same mentality that walks into a brothel and pays ₹200 to torture a girl who has been starved into smiling. What's the Fix? The Legalization Debate So, what's the solution? Many say, "Legalize it." The data is compelling. In European countries where prostitution is illegal , the crime rate (trafficking, rape, child exploitation) is 11% . In countries where it is legal , that crime rate drops to just 3% . It seems like a simple fix, right? Geetanjali Babbar strongly disagrees. Not because the data is wrong, but because the Indian system is too corrupt to handle it. "It is illegal right now," she says, "but it