After the sun goes down, the millennium city becomes a hub of nasty sex practices. There are 612 male prostitutes, also known as ‘kotis’, who lure men to have sex with them, in bushes and sometimes in the customers’ vehicles parked at famous junctions of Gurgaon.

The practice is widespread and is carried out at places such as Delhi-Gurgaon toll plaza, IFFCO Chowk, city bus stand and Kamla Nehru Park. Some of the male sex workers are regular guys and even work in the factories and companies in Gurgaon and ‘dress up’ like women in the night time to indulge in sexual activities to earn extra bucks.

“There are three categories of MSM (men having sex with men). Some are kotis (transgenders), others are girias (homosexuals) and the third ones are double deckers (bi-sexuals). We can’t stop this practice altogether but atleast we can curb the hazards caused from this. Which is why, we always ask them to use condoms and never indulge in sex without protection. They are as vulnerable to HIV positive as female sex workers,” said Amit Yadav (name changed) an official who works on Targeted Intervention project of Society for Voluntary Agency (SOCVA), which is run by the Haryana state AIDS control society.

After FW spoke to one koti, he told us that the practice starts at around 7 in the evening and continues till 11 or sometimes midnight. “Some of us even work for the entire night but it is very risky after midnight. Some guys force us to have sex without protection and a few drug addicts misbehave and there are no people around to save us. We can’t even approach the police,” said Tamanna (name changed).

Their fee ranges anywhere between R100-500 depending on the customer and on a normal day, a koti can get seven to eight customers.  “We get customers from DLF area, villages, Delhi and almost everywhere,” added Tamanna.

When the customer forces unpleasant things on him, he doesn’t make any bones in returning money but ensures that the intercourse is properly protected.  

Most of the kotis fall in the age group of 20-40 after which they switch to other means of livelihood. “Those who are eunuchs start dancing in weddings and childbirths while the others, who are normal, continue in their normal social lives,” said Yadav. 

(First person account) Tamanna (name changed), 35, a koti (transgender) and male prostitute in Gurgaon