As many as 40 children aged below 16 years were rescued from a bangle manufacturing unit running out of a three-story residential building in Bhatta Basti area on Tuesday. Police said that the children were brought from their villages in Bihar.
The police arrested three men who had employed these children and were making them work for at least 15 hours a day in inhuman condition. The children were not allowed to play or attend school. Some children were as young as eight-years-old.
According to the police, three men identified as Saqeel, Mohammad Ali Azam and Mohammed Azhar were arrested for employing them.
“We had got a tip-off that they were running a bangle manufacturing unit and employed children for risky jobs. We carried out a raid and found as many as 40 children below the age of 16 years,” said a police officer.
The children were not allowed to leave the three rooms in which they were working and slept. “They were not allowed to go out. They were provided food in the same rooms. There was hardly any space for the children to sleep properly,” said the officer.
The officer added that the children were brought from Bihar about 4-5 months ago. “The accused men claim that they had paid about Rs 2,000 to the parents of each child in advance and were sending Rs 1,500 every month to them. However, we are yet to verify this,” said the officer.
At least three cases of children being rescued from bangle manufacturing units in Bhatta Basti and adjoining Vidhyadhar Nagar area have come up since December.
Seventeen children aged between 10 and 14 years found working at a metal bangle manufacturing unit in Bhatta Basti area and were rescued on December 6. Similarly, six children aged between 10 and 12 years were rescued from a bangle manufacturing unit in Purana Vidhyadhar Nagar area on December 3. These children also had been brought from Bihar.
The accused men have been arrested under various Sections including 344, 374 of IPC. “They are being interrogated. The children have been sent to shelter homes for now. There family members are being informed,” said the officer.
src: TOI