NGO, authorities rescue 21 child labourers in Jaipur

The kids were made to work inside stinking, dingy rooms with no windows

Twenty-one minor labourers in the age group of 12-16 years were rescued from the bangle-making units in Bhatta Basti area of Jaipur, sources said in Jaipur yesterday.

The rescue operation was carried out by NGO ‘Bachpan Bachao Andolan’, jointly with local police and Anti-Human Trafficking Unit (AHTU).

While owners of five bangle making units were arrested, two are reportedly absconding.

All the children were trafficked from remote areas in Bihar on the pretext of education and forced to work under inhuman conditions for long hours.

The police have registered seven FIRs under various sections of IPC, Juvenile Justice (JJ) Act and CLPRA. The minor children were lured with the false promise of education and better life and trafficked to Jaipur, the sources said.

Among them, nine are from Gaya district, 4 each from Arwal and Nalanda districts and two each from Nawada and Aurangabad districts.

Recalling their ordeal, the children told the police that they were made to work from 9am till 10pm without regular meals and rest.

Twelve-year-old Ramesh (name changed) said, “We were not allowed to step out of the factory premises and the owner used to lock us up from outside. Also, we were beaten badly over petty issues”.

The children were made to work inside stinking and dingy rooms with no windows.

While Faiyaz Alam, Shakhs Tabrez, Shahid Afridi, Nolej Alam and Azhar have been arrested, the police are on the lookout for Sarfraz Ansari and Siyaram Choudhary, who are absconding.

Manish Sharma, director, Bachpan Bachao Andolan, said, “The rescue of children shows the wicked methods executed by criminal minds for trafficking innocent children from other states under false promise of education and good life and then forcing them into child labour”.