Thomas (Special correspondent)
A total of 127 children were rescued by the Child Safety NGO team of the non-profit organisation Bosco between July 2021 and January 2022.
The children of 11-18 year age range hailed from poor families and had been trafficked into the city over the last seven months,said Fr. Varghese Pallipuram, executive director, who supervised the rescue and rehabilitation programme.
As 22 children were under 14 years,child labour cases were registered against the employers.
During investigation we found that they were made to work in garages or in factories forced to stitch bags and caps,dye saris,cut glass,prepare ice cream and candy.
Others were forced into scrap and construction work.Of the 127 children rescued,77 were from Bihar,while around 41 were from different parts of Karnataka.
Three children had families in Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan and the rest from Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand and West Bengal.
The children had been brought to Bengaluru by agents who had allegedly made advance payments to their parents.
They were forced to work from 8 am till late night in small, gloomy and suffocating conditions,with little or no medical care.
They were not even provided face masks, exposing them to the deadly COVID-19 virus,” said the NGO.City police were also involved in the rescue efforts.
They were not permitted to talk to their parents back home, without the consent of the employers.
On an average, the children were paid miserly wages of Rs.4000-Rs.8000 per month.
Post rescue, many rescued children were tested for Covid,provided with the necessary medical care and produced before the CWC (Child Welfare Committee).The committee booked the employers under JJ Act and also under the Child Labourer Act.
The parents of some of the rescued boys were summoned and submitted an undertaking that they would not force their children to work.
But we have little hope as poverty-stricken families are lured by the assurance that their children will have three meals a day and a decent income,said P N Basavaraju,rescue coordinator he added.
