In Hindi, gudiya means 'doll.' It was the nickname of a tiny 14-year-old girl with a light complexion, long black hair and a round face. She was given the name by the people who sent her to have paid sex with men in neighborhoods on the fringes of South Delhi over five months, starting two years ago.

Since last December, when a 23-year-old New Delhi student died after being gang-raped on a moving bus, India has been embroiled in debate over how to better protect women against sexualassault (a need highlighted by this week's news of the rape of a 30-year-old American tourist). The story of Gudiya, pieced together through interviews and official reports, points to a different sort of abusive treatment: the exploitation of women, including many children, for sex. (Gudiya's real name is being withheld in accordance with India's laws governing juveniles.)

In 2004, as a small girl, Gudiya lived with her parents on a quiet street in Govindpuri, a messy, broiling New Delhi neighborhood. Her father, Jitender Gupta, had recently been released from prison for a murder conviction. In 2005, Gudiya's mother died from tuberculosis.

Mr. Gupta worked long hours selling vegetables from the roadside. He struggled with Gudiya. He beat her with his belt and fists, his daughter later told authorities. His response, in an interview: I didn't. But if I did, it was for her own good.

Their relationship became so sour that Gudiya was put in an orphanage, where she stayed for three years before walking out when she was roughly 13. She bounced among various relatives before returning to her father. In late May 2011, saying she feared violence when her father came home drunk, Gudiya, then 14, took off