India

12 March 2012Last updated at11:30

In pictures: Mass wedding in India 'prostitute village'

Boys and girls in Vadia village, Gujarat state, India, pose for pictures after their engagement ceremony 11 March 2012

A mass wedding and engagement ceremony has been held in a village in India's Gujarat state for the daughters of sex workers under a plan to save them from being pushed into prostitution.

Engagement ceremony in the village of Vadia, Gujarat state, India - 11 March 2012.

Seven couples were married and 15 others were engaged during the event on Sunday in the village of Vadia in Banaskantha district. Vadia is often called the "village of prostitutes".

Engagement ceremony in the village of Vadia, Gujarat state - 11 March 2012

The girls - who come from the Saraniya community - traditionally do not marry and work as prostitutes in nearby towns and cities.

Groomsmen from the Saraniya community wait for rituals to start on the eve of their wedding at the village of Vadia, Gujarat state, India - 10 March 2012

The event was organised by Vicharta Samuday Samarthan Manch (VSSM), a non-government organisation which works with marginalised nomadic communities.

Boys wearing turbans sit next to their sisters before the boys' engagement ceremony begins at the village of Vadia in Gujarat state, India - 11 March 2012

VSSM's Mittal Patel said no one had previously wanted to marry a girl from Vadia and men in the village are known to make money by pimping the women to clients.

Newly married couples pose after a mass marriage in the village of Vadia, Gujarat state, India - 11 March 2012

The brides were all 18 or older. They were dressed in colourful saris while the grooms wore long tunics and gold turbans.

A veiled girl from the Saraniya community waits for her engagement ceremony to start in the village of Vadia, Gujarat state, India - 11 March 2012

Twelve girls, below the age of 18 were also engaged at the event. Once married or engaged, a young woman can not be forced into the sex trade, anti-prostitution campaigners say.

Newly engaged youth offer sweets to each other in the village of Vadia, Gujarat state, India - 11 March 2012

The young couples exchanged rings and sweets as a priest gave instructions from a microphone. Their parents said their weddings would take place when they turned 18.

A boy and girl take part in their engagement ceremony in the village of Vadia, Gujarat state - 11 March 2012

About 3,000 people from the surrounding villages and several government officials attended Sunday's celebrations.

A groom wearing a battery operated garland sits in a jeep during a procession on the eve of his wedding at the village of Vadia, Gujarat state, India - 10 March 2012

Social activists, who organised and funded the 900,000-rupee ($18,000) event, said it would end Vadia's flesh trade.

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India

In pictures: Mass wedding in India 'prostitute village'

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