New Delhi, June 8 (UNI) Around 21 children, including 14 girls, were rescued from different parts of Delhi as part of an operation carried out by National Commission for Protection of Child Rights in coordination with Delhi Police, district authorities and voluntary organisation Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA).
“Acting on a complaint by BBA, the joint team conducted raids at ten locations in the northwest and west districts of Delhi,” an official statement said on Saturday.
The children, aged 8 to 17 years, were trafficked from different parts of the country under the pretext of receiving education and a better life. The operation not only revealed the harrowing conditions the children were subjected to but also uncovered records of thousands of other children, along with ₹10.5 lakh in cash and gold jewellery, BBA said in a statement.
Of the 21 rescued children, 5 were rescued from Rajouri garden, 3 from Nihal Vihar and 13 from Shakurpur area of the national capital.
One particularly challenging rescue took place in the Shakurpur area, where authorities faced significant resistance, including a locked main gate that took four hours and special permission from the LG to break open.
All the rescued children, who appeared extremely scared, hungry, sleep-deprived, and confused, were subsequently brought before the Child Welfare Committee. The children hailed from various states including West Bengal, Odisha, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh.
Bachpan Bachao Andolan had raised the issue in its complaint to the NCPCR that traffickers often bring vulnerable children from remote and marginalized families under the guise of placement agencies and sell them to employers and into prostitution.
“Today’s raid once again brings forth the urgent need for stringent regulations and vigilant enforcement to protect vulnerable children from exploitation and trafficking,”Manish Sharma, Director of Bachpan Bachao Andolan, said.
“It is imperative to regulate placement agencies because they are becoming a dangerous tool in the hands of traffickers. The traffickers often approach marginalized families in far-flung states and make tall promises about the future of these children or lure the parents with a large sum of money. There is a vicious cycle of demand and supply for child labour in the country,” he said.
