Orphanage’s claim rejected

186 children handed over to Kozhikode child welfare panel

The district authorities on Sunday gave custody of 186 of the 456 children who were detained by the Railway Police at the Palakkad Junction station on Sunday in a suspected case of child trafficking, to the Kozhikode District Child Welfare Committee.

District Collector K. Ramachandran said those who had valid documents were handed over to the child welfare committee on the condition that they would be provided proper rehabilitation. The rest of the children, all aged below 12, were taken to a rehabilitation centre in Malampuzha. The authorities turned down the demand of an orphanage in Mukkom, near Kozhikode, for custody of the children claiming they were residents of the orphanage.

The police said no claim of the orphanage would be allowed without completing the due legal procedures.

The children, including over 100 girls, had alighted from the Patna-Ernakulam Express at 2.30 p.m. en route to Kozhikode.

The adults who had accompanied them claimed they lived in an orphanage at Mukkom, near Kozhikode, and were returning after visiting their native villages in Bihar.

Cases to be registered

Officials indicated that cases would be registered against the orphanage administrators on charges of violating the Child Rights Act by transporting the children from Bihar.