The two boys hailing from Kulashekharappattinam, near Thiruchendur, in Tamil Nadu who ran away from a sweet-making unit at Aluva on Tuesday, will remain at the Childline facility here till their mothers produce documents testifying to their identity and relationship.
Anburaj, 14, and Kartheesh, 11, were produced before the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) here on Friday.
“The mothers of these boys did not have any documents with them to prove that the two were indeed their sons. Since this involves a case of child labour, the CWC did not want to send them away right now. Till the required documents are produced, the children will remain with us in Thiruvananthapuram,” Childline team member S. K. Ratheesh told The Hindu .
The two boys were found wandering at the Thiruvananthapuram Central Railway Station on Wednesday morning by Childline activists.
According to Mr. Ratheesh, the CWC is also considering sending the boys to its unit at Thoothukkudi so that steps can be taken to prevent children from ending up in a similar state again.
“The CWC wanted the children to continue their education,” he added. Childline officials said here that the two boys also gave detailed statements to the police about Abraham, the agent who is said to have taken the duo to Aluva after telling Anburaj’s mother Mariaselvam that he was taking them to a house-warming ceremony.
At the sweet-making unit at Aluva, the boys were reportedly told by one employee that Abraham had “sold’ them to Immanuel, the sweet-shop owner.
During detailed conversations with Mariaselvam, Childline officials learnt that Abraham had taken her to a house for work sometime ago and she had left a month later because she was not paid any wages. Kartheesh’s mother, Chithra, on the other hand, was completely unaware of the actions of Abraham and was reportedly shocked when told that he had been found in Kerala.
Both Mariaselvam and Chithra are manual labourers who load dried cowdung on to trucks for a living. Anburaj and Kartheesh are students of the TMS Government School at Kulashekharappattinam.
