By Our Reporter
Shillong: Three minors, who were forced to collect scraps and steal rods and kept under inhuman conditions, were rescued on Sunday while their employer was arrested following a raid conducted by NGOs and a Special Team of the State police (Crime Branch) at Jhalupara area of the city.
A team consisting of members of the Impulse NGO Network, the CSWO and the police conducted a raid in the wee hours of Sunday at Jhalupara Cantonment area and rescued the three children aged between 13-16 years.
A statement issued later by the CSWO said one Kumar Sunar, a resident of Jhalupara Cantonment area has been forcing the children to steal rods and collect scraps from Last Stop area of the city and to purchase cannabis (ganja) from Iewduh and Paltan Bazar areas.
The statement, further, added that Sunar would punish them regularly if they failed to comply with his orders.
Narrating the story of their plight, one of the rescued boys said they were made to wake up at 3 am to 4 am every day for their rounds and one of the minor boys was kicked by Sunar for not complying with his orders.
The children were made to live under inhuman conditions, the NGOs claimed. “Their bed was a 5×5 box-like shelter where three of them were cramped when they were rescued,” the statement added.
CSWO president Agnes Kharshiing condemned the authorities of Jhalupara Cantonment area for their failure to tackle such menaces. “If the management within the locality was intact then such illegal acts would have never flourished,” she added.
The NGOs also filed an FIR under the Child Labour Act against Sunar.
