Six child labourers rescued

In a joint operation, Anti-Human Trafficking Wing of the district police and District Child Protection Office (DCPO) have rescued six boys, including a boy from Uttar Pradesh, who were employed as child labourers in shops and roadside eateries in the town.

Acting on the orders of Superintendent of Police N.M. Mylvahanan, Anti-Human Trafficking Wing Sub-Inspector Anitha and Mageswaran from the DCPO rescued the boys on Friday. All the boys, aged below 17 years, were school dropouts and were employed at vessel and hardware shops and roadside eateries, the police said.

They were produced before the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) and sent to a Reception Home at Karaikudi as their parents could not be summoned.

CWC Chairperson R. Sakunthala said the boys were sent to the home as they could not be handed over to their parents immediately. Three boys hailed from Tirunelveli district, two from Ramanathapuram district and one from UP, she said.

She said the boy from UP was employed at a cotton sweet shop and he told the officials that he had come from Chennai. All the boys would be brought back here during the CWC’s next sitting to be handed over to their parents with instruction to admit them in schools, Ms. Sakunthala said.

If the parents failed to turn up or refused to take back the boys for school admission, the CWC would accommodate them in hostels and help them pursue their studies, she said.

The CWC would also hold talks with representatives of local chamber of commerce and sensitise them to the need to desist from employing child workers, she said.

CWC to hold talks with representatives of local chamber of commerce and sensitise them to desist from employing child workers