A 10-year-old girl being forced to do domestic work in a metro was rescued by officials of the National Child Labour Project and Childline at Purushotamapatnam village near Gannavaram on Wednesday.
Kiralapaka Kumari (name changed) has three sisters and father passed away recently. Unable to make ends meet the girl's mother put her to work in the house of one Prabhakara Rao in Gannavaram. Mr. Rao sent the girl away to work in a metro to take care of the grandchild as both his daughter and son-in-law were employed. The girl was brought to Gannavaram. The parents of the baby had gone for a vacation and the domestic help was also brought to take care of the baby. Rescued minor girl in an opportune moment gave her employers the slip and came on to National Highway No. 5 in the night. She stood on the highway asking for a lift. Suspecting that something was wrong, some people picked her up and handed her over to the Gannavaram police. The police contacted National Child Labour Project Director D. Anjaneya Reddy. Mr. Reddy after getting the full details from the child went to the house of Prabhakara Rao along with Labour Inspector S. Amar Kumar, Childline project officer Indira and district coordinator Ramesh and served a notice on him. According to Supreme Court guidelines violators of the Child Labour Act should be given a notice.
They also have to make a fixed deposit of Rs.20,000 in the name of the victim, Mr. Reddy said. The child will be admitted to a bridge school and then to a regular school and protected as per the provisions of the National Child Labour Project, Mr. Reddy said.
Keywords: domestic work, National Child Labour Project
