Many of the women had lived there for years, and although their lives were obviously far from being perfect, they thought their lot was only improving now that they were getting help from a non-governmental organisation.

Indeed, the sex workers in the small town of Nippani, which lies on the border of Maharasthra-Karnataka in western India, had no idea how much they were resented and despised by many in the local community.

Until, that is, they put together enough money to buy land on which they could hold their monthly meetings within the town itself.

That was when what they now describe as a ''campaign of terror'' against them began. Soon after they started using their new meeting place last January, people started stoning it.

They were also showered with more insults and threats than usual and an armed mob even tried to break into the house of Shabani Kazi, one of the more visible members of their group, the Veshya AIDS Muqabla Parishad (Vamps).

''Over 70 thugs came to kill me (that) night,'' recounted Kazi in a recent press conference here.

''They knocked on my door and almost broke it down. My daughter was also threatened. I had no choice but to leave my house and run away.''

''For the last one month I am staying with friends,'' she added. ''I first thought I would dissociate with the collective but then I decided now I will go back and face the consequences. If my landlord had not saved me, I would have been killed.''

Verbal and physical abuse

On the surface, the incident seems like an isolated one. In truth, the Karnataka State Home Secretary A R Infant has already ordered an immediate inquiry into the ill treatment of the sex workers in Nippani and the apparent inaction of the police there.

But observers say there are other Nippanis across India, where sex workers are treated viciously and are oftentimes even looked upon as the cause of the spread of HIV/AIDS in the country.

Although India has a relatively low HIV/AIDS prevalence rate  members, accompanied by Sangram representatives, went to the local police to complain about what was being done to them, they were met with more maltreatment, this time from the circle police inspector Satish Khot.

As the Vamps members tell it, Khot refused to take down their complaint, including that of Kazi's about the mob at her door, and even threatened to strip all of them and beat them black and blue, among other things.

Said Seshu: ''I have never heard such demoralising and filthy language being used in the 10 years I have worked with women in prostitution.''

Kazi also recounted, ''Khot told me I was a veshya ( prostitute) and not a citizen and therefore not entitled to file a complaint of torture/harassment.'' Another was told that since she was ''a prostitute, therefore I am not a woman''.

Neil Pate, a Times of India reporter who had gone with the women to the police, was not spared from Khot's diatribe, and was accused of being the women's pimp.

The Vamps members visiting Mumbai wondered aloud why, if they were neither women nor citizens, were their votes courted by political parties during elections.

One also noted, ''Where do our clients come from? They don't drop out of the sky. We are here because we are helpless in some ways. Why don't they make men who use us outcasts?''

Still, there has been some good news since. For instance, some Nippani residents have stepped forward to express support for the women.

More than 25 human and civil rights groups have also submitted a memorandum to the state government, the National Human Rights Commission and the superintendent of police to look into the matter and rectify the situation.

Karnataka State's Infant has directed the police as well to ensure the safety of the women so that they can continue to hold their meetings.

Even National AIDS Control Organisation director JVR Prasada Rao has expressed shock at what the women have had to go through, and remarked that such incidents cannot be allowed to go unpunished.

Observers say, however, that much remains to be done not only in correcting people's misconceptions about HIV/AIDS and how it is spread, but also in the way society at large treats those in the sex trade. (IPS)