In the bustling heart of Delhi, beneath the surface of the city’s vibrant streets, lies a shadowy world few truly understand. This investigative piece takes a deep dive into the various prostitution rings and call girl rackets that operate within the capital, from the notorious brothels of GB Road, where trafficked girls are forced into the trade, to the exclusive ‘Russian girls’ who cater to the city’s elite. Each network operates distinctly differently, serving varied clientele and remaining largely unnoticed in the city’s daily life.
As we unravel the layers of these operations, readers will get a rare glimpse into how these women—many of whom are victims of trafficking, while others choose the profession—are categorized by the clientele they serve and the ways they can be approached. Whether it’s the “freelance” call girls standing at known hotspots or the luxurious escorts booked through high-end channels, the secrets of this hidden industry will surprise even the most informed readers.
It should be noted that the call girls rackets/ prostitution rings in other metros like Kolkata, Chennai, Pune, Mumbai, and Hyderabad also follow similar patterns but are not as extensive as in Delhi.
This article reveals the dark underbelly of Delhi, where prostitution thrives in plain sight, yet remains untouched by the law, protected by layers of secrecy and corruption.
Tales of G B Road
The infamous GB Road in Delhi is a stark example of how deeply entrenched prostitution is in the city, accessible to anyone—whether a wealthy businessman or a rickshaw puller.
With rates ranging from ₹500 to ₹10,000, a girl’s price tag depends heavily on her age, looks, and the duration of time spent with her. The younger and more attractive the girl, the higher the cost. But behind these numbers lies a much darker reality.
Most of the girls on GB Road are victims of human trafficking, brought from the poorer regions of West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, Assam, the Northeast, and even Nepal and Bangladesh. Many were trafficked when they were still minors, lured away from their homes with false promises of work in Delhi. Traffickers prey on the poverty and desperation of these girls, offering them dreams of jobs as domestic help or in other low-income roles. For families struggling to survive, the chance to escape poverty often blinds them to the trap that awaits their daughters. What begins as hope for a better life ends with their arrival at GB Road, where they are sold into a life of exploitation.
There is another heartbreaking category of girls—those who were deceived by their own boyfriends. Sweet promises of love and marriage lured them into eloping, only to be betrayed and sold to pimps in Delhi. The horror doesn’t stop there. Upon arrival, many of these girls are drugged and supplied to wealthy clients who pay large sums of money for the chance to exploit a vulnerable, often still innocent girl. After these initial violations, they are sent to the brothels of GB Road, where they are forced into the relentless cycle of prostitution.
However, not all the girls are trafficked. A few end up at GB Road out of sheer desperation—those who choose this path as the only way to survive. With no food, no shelter, and no other means to fill their empty stomachs, prostitution becomes their only option. It is a brutal choice, but one made in the face of crushing poverty and lack of opportunity.
What makes GB Road’s existence even more tragic is the lack of intervention from authorities. It operates openly, right under the nose of the administration. Despite laws against trafficking and prostitution, no significant action has been taken to dismantle this ring of exploitation. The reason? It’s widely believed that bribes grease the wheels of power—sometimes in the form of cash, but often in the form of girls. Corruption runs deep, and the very people who are supposed to protect these girls turn a blind eye, allowing the prostitution ring to thrive.
Premium Escorts And Russian Girls
There exists a more secretive, elite category of prostitution in Delhi, run by a small circle of well-connected pimps who cater exclusively to the most affluent sections of society. These aren’t the dingy, hidden brothels of GB Road—this is a world of luxury where the women involved look every bit as glamorous as the circles they serve. Their clients? Politicians, businessmen, celebrities, and foreign dignitaries, all with the means to afford the most extravagant lifestyles—and willing to pay handsomely for these women’s time.
The girls working in this ring are often models or exceptionally beautiful women who use escort services to maintain their high-end lifestyles. They glide through Delhi’s upscale neighborhoods in premium sedans dressed in designer clothes adorned with branded handbags and sparkling jewelry.
Their appearance is carefully curated to match the expectations of their wealthy clientele. The money that fuels this lifestyle comes from offering sexual services to clients willing to pay top dollar for their company. For these women, this is a world where wealth, power, and sex collide, with large sums exchanged for intimate encounters behind closed doors.
However, it’s not just Indian girls who are part of this luxurious prostitution ring.
There is a high demand for foreign women, particularly from Central Asia and Eastern Europe. In Delhi, all of them are collectively referred to as “Russians,” regardless of their country of origin.
These women come from places like Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, and Russia, and they are drawn into this world to escape poverty back home. Traveling to Delhi on tourist visas, they live lavishly while in the city, serving the most elite clients before returning to their home countries. Their beauty—fair skin, striking features, and a distinct foreign allure—makes them especially sought after in a society that often places a premium on white skin.
The demand for these exotic foreign women is so high that pimps must often bring in girls specifically on client requests. These women’s journeys are arranged by a network of international agents, ensuring a constant flow of new faces for the clients, who are willing to pay significantly more for exclusive, foreign escorts. What’s particularly striking is how discreet this system is. While brothels like GB Road are widely known, this elite circle operates in the shadows of five-star hotels, private parties, and luxury homes.
There is also a growing number of African women involved in Delhi’s high-end prostitution ring, many of them from Nigeria. They, too, serve affluent clients, though their path into the trade is often different. These women typically come to Delhi with their male partners, who act as their pimps. These males are also involved in the illegal drug trade, as reported by many newspapers in the past. They send women as call girls to contacts made through their illegal drug supply chains. Unlike Central Asian and East European women, African call girls are comparatively easy to avail.
This elite prostitution ring exists almost entirely under the radar, shielded by the immense wealth and influence of its clients. It’s a closely guarded system of supply and demand, where foreign girls are flown in on request, and high-end escorts present themselves as part of the glamorous nightlife of the rich and powerful.
Dual Identity/ Part-time Call Girls in Delhi
A third category of prostitution in Delhi consists of women for whom selling sex isn’t their primary source of income but a way to supplement their household earnings. Many of these women hold low-paying jobs during the week, working as receptionists, telecallers, or other similar roles, but act as call girls on the weekends.
Among them are a few college students attending weekday classes and discreetly providing services in their off-hours.
These women are often part of tightly-knit groups, each headed by a woman who manages a select client list. They do not cater to random clients; instead, they operate within a small, trusted circle, serving clients only on a referral basis. This exclusivity isn’t just about maintaining safety and protecting their privacy. The women in this network want to ensure that their side work remains a secret, protecting their professional, academic, and family lives. By keeping their activities confined to a small group of trusted clients, they avoid the risk of exposure that could jeopardize their day-to-day jobs or their personal lives.
These call girls are not always available because of their regular jobs or studies, especially on weekdays. On weekends, when demand for more attractive women peaks, even their small circle of clients may struggle to secure their services. In such cases, the lead woman with connections often arranges a replacement, ensuring that business continues as usual without compromising anyone’s personal boundaries.
Within this same category are many housewives, primarily from lower-income families, who engage in prostitution to support their families financially.
Their services are generally available only during daytime hours when their husbands are away at work. For these women, prostitution becomes a way to manage family expenses—paying for school fees, groceries, or other necessary costs that their household income can’t cover.
These women live in a delicate balance between their regular lives and their secret work. They carefully manage their double identities, keeping the lines blurred so that their part-time prostitution never interferes with their families, jobs, or studies. While their clients come from society’s middle and higher rungs, these women remain unnoticed in the call girls’ trade market, their secrets tightly held within a small circle while they continue with their day-to-day normal family lives.
Prostitutes in Destitute
Another type of prostitution ring in Delhi operates in a “freelance style,” where girls stand at certain known spots in the city, waiting for potential clients to approach them directly. Unlike those controlled by pimps or agents, these girls work independently, and their “business” takes place in some of the city’s busiest areas. They can often be found near crowded metro stations, at big traffic lights, around popular hotspots, outside late-night restaurants, railway stations, or in public parks after dark.
These girls, mostly from slum areas, stand at these locations waiting for men—often on bikes or in cars—to stop, negotiate, and strike a deal. After a quick conversation to agree on the price, they either take the client back to the shabby huts where they live or accompany them to the men’s rooms or flats.
The price for their services generally ranges from ₹500 to ₹3000 or more, depending on their age, looks, and the number of men who will spend the night with them.
The heartbreaking reality for many of these women is that they aren’t freelancing out of choice. Most of them are forced into prostitution by the very men in their lives—drunk husbands or fathers, who push them into this work to finance their own drinking habits or other expenses. Their daily existence is filled with abuse and neglect, and prostitution becomes their only way to survive and meet the financial demands placed on them by these men.
These women typically begin standing at their spots after dusk, usually around 9 or 10 PM, hoping to catch the attention of passing clients. The transactions are quick, and the nights are long. Many of these women are simply trying to make enough money to get by, living a life of desperation where they are forced to trade their bodies to escape from one kind of abuse—only to fall into another.
Despite their visible presence at these well-known spots, it is surprising that this type of prostitution remains largely unnoticed by authorities. These women have become part of the city’s nightlife, and many pass by without a second glance. The clients know where to find them; it’s just another night on the streets for the women.
A System Built on Suffering
Whether on GB Road, in luxury circles or freelancing on the streets, the women in Delhi’s prostitution rings are bound by exploitation. Their stories are filled with betrayal, desperation, and the failure of a system that should protect them.
While the city continues to thrive, these women are forced into the shadows, victims of a society that turns a blind eye to their suffering. The complex web of power, corruption, and abuse sustains the dark underbelly of Delhi, escaping these women almost impossible.
