Jaipur: 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 here on Thursday.
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 9 a.m. till 10 p.m. 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 for fresh air or light.
While Mohd. Faiyaz Alam, Mohd. Shakhs Tabrez, Mohd. Shahid Afridi, Mohd. Nolej Alam and Mohd. Azhar have been arrested, the police are on the lookout for Mohd. Sarfraz Ansari and Siyaram Choudhary, who are absconding.
Expressing serious concern over the rising instances of child trafficking and child labour Manish Sharma, director, Bachpan Bachao Andolan (founded by Nobel Peace Laureate Kailash Satyarthi) 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”.
“Our organisation remains vigilant against such activities by the traffickers and while we support the government’s anti-trafficking bill, we hope it will be passed in Parliament as early as possible”, he added.
–IANS