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Andhra Pradesh
By Ravi Reddy
Thursday's morning opened up a new chapter in the life of Jamuna, the runaway girl, who underwent nightmarish experiences on the streets of the town for the last five years, when she saw her father for the first time in five years. Emotional scenes were witnessed as Mandal Ramesh, a hamali, hugged his daughter and broke down. The girl, who escaped out of fear of getting beaten up frequently, could not control herself and started crying. The reunion was made possible by the Community Mobilisation Officer, P. Sudhakar Rao, of the DPEP. Thursday's reunion was result of Herculean efforts by the CMO on the directions of the District Collector, G.Asok Kumar, to identify street children and admit them to bridge schools. As part of the special drive, Mr. Sudhakar Rao visited the local bus station and checked the railway platforms in Nizamabad for street children. In all, 84 children, most of them rag-pickers and soda sellers, were rounded up and counselled to join bridge school. During such regular visits, Mr. Sudhakar Rao motivated some street to join bridge school. Once he developed rapport with the children, the CMO began making enquiries about the minor girls, who were at the risk of being lured into flesh trade by brothel keepers. It was here that two small girls first mentioned the plight of Jamuna. The CMO was told that Jamuna had run away from her house in Mudirajgalli and started roaming in the town after her mother passed away. Apart from her father, Jamuna has three brothers, who had not seen her for the past five years. Shabbily dressed, Jamuna roamed about and came back to the railway platform for night stay. She was lured and forced into prostitution by a woman at the age of 14 years. The hapless girl was promised Rs. 80 per day and innocently fell into their trap. Whatever money she was given was spent on watching films and eating food before she was back on the platform every night. Mr. Sudhakar Rao told The Hindu that he managed to contact Jamuna and enquired why she had left home. She told him that her father had beaten her up badly and threatened to kill her. The family members tried to locate her but failed in their attempt. They lost all hopes when they were told that the girl was very much in Nizamabad town. The girl was motivated and taken along with two other girls to the Mahila pranganam at Perkit, where they were admitted to the residential bridge school. Jamuna, not about to adapt herself to the new atmosphere, ran away twice. The DPEP official brought her back and contacted Sneha Society for Rural Reconstruction, an NGO, to admit her and provide her counselling. For the last two months, the girl has been staying in the NGO and learning candle and agarbathi making. Once the vacations was declared, Mr. Sudhakar Rao decided to bring the father and the girl together. The girl's father initially refused to accept her. But, following counselling and advice of the neigbhours, Ramesh expressed his desire to meet the girl. Accordingly, a meeting was fixed between the girl and her father on Thursday at Sneha office. It was a moving reunion.
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