Eight children from across India including three who sacrificed their lives were honoured with the 15th Ghanshyam Binani Children’s Bravery Award for 2016 at a ceremony in Mumbai.
Seven-year-old Kamlesh Pradhan from Chhattisgarh was the youngest awardee, while 10-year-old Lalduhawma from Mizoram, Amruka Kumar, 16, from Chhattisgarh and Neelam Kalu Bote, 12, from Ahmednagar district in Maharashtra were honoured in the bravery category.
Nine-year-old Ilma Bano from Faizabad district in Uttar Pradesh was given the Special Category award. Ten-year-old Sheelu, alias Golu, nine-year-old Gulnaaz Bano and 12-year-old Muskaan, all from Uttar Pradesh, were awarded posthumously.
The award, instituted in memory of Late Ghanshyam Binani, founder-chairman of Binani Industries Ltd, acknowledges acts of bravery and selflessness carries a cash prize of Rs 51,000, and a medal of courage. The awards were presented at the Police Gymkhana in Mumbai on Friday.
Young Kamlesh rescued his friend Shubham from a forest fire in Kanchpur village in Chhatisgarh in January 2015 and admitted him to a hospital nearby with burn injuries. 10-year-old Lalduhawma saved a friend who had come in contact from a live electric wire in a Mizoram village in May 2015 and rushed him to hospital.
16-year-old Amruka Kumar from rescued a two-year-old girl from a 16-foot-deep well in Khillari village of Chhatisgarh. 12-year-old Nilam Bote from Manikozar village in Ahmednagar saved his two younger sisters and a brother from a fire which spread to other houses built with dry leaves and grass in May 2015.
Ten-year-old Sheelu rescued his elder brother and a friend from drowning in a lake in Mohanlalganj village in Uttar Pradesh, but died in hospital.
Nine-year-old Ilma Bano from Faizabad district in Uttar Pradesh was honoured with a special award for trying to rescue her friends Gulnaaz Bano and Muskaan, who went swimming with their friend Mukhtar in a lake in Mavai village of Faizabad, but was the only one to survive the tragedy.
