Varun, a class 9 student, who ran away from a residential school in Dobaspet last Tuesday, was among the 6,461 runaway children rescued during 2014 by BOSCO, a city-based NGO.
While Varun ran away as he was unable to cope with the change in the medium of instruction, among the reasons for children running away from their homes are family dispute, poverty, peer influence and poor performance in academics.
Among the 6,461 children rescued, the BOSCO staff managed to reunite 4,681 with their families and the rest of them are under the care of the Child Welfare Committee.
Of the rescued children, 5,561 are boys and 900 are girls.
“BOSCO is one of the single largest organisations in the country that has rescued such a large number of children from the streets,” said Executive Director of BOSCO P.S. George.
While 3,436 rescued children are aged between 11 and 16, 872 are aged between 6 and 10, and 75 children are below the age of five.
Among the children rescued, 4,934 are from Karnataka, 517 from Andhra Pradesh, 293 from Bihar and 191 from Tamil Nadu. Majority of the rescued children were found in the city railway station where they came from different places.
“Their favourite destination is Bengaluru since majority of them revealed during the counselling session that they had come to the city to find a job, and there were some who said that they had come as they were attracted to the ‘charm’ of the city, according to Fr. George.
