5 Rayagada boys rescued in Bangalore

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Source: The Hindu (http://www.hinduonnet.com/2010/02/17/stories/2010021752790300.htm)
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5 Rayagada boys rescued in Bangalore


Correspondent



They are in age group of 10-13


KORAPUT: Timely action by a conscious citizen and the media could save five young boys from slipping into an unknown world of labour at Bangalore, far away from their native in Rayagada district in Orissa. The five boys, all in the age group of 10-13, will be sent back to their home by the Bangalore police, according to Kamakhi Prasad Panda, a native of Koraput living in Bangalore who facilitated as the interpreter on behalf of the children.
Mr. Panda said that all the children were from Mardijhoola and Hikkiriguda villages of Dombernalli panchayat under Bissamcuttack block of Rayagada district and spoke in Kui language. While quoting the statements given by the children to the police, he said that Madhav, a labour dalal had carried all of them on a truck from Bissamcuttack to Rayagada and then to Balugaon by train. The children were handed over to another person Gandhi at Balugaon who got the children boarded in Prashanti Express to Bangalore.
While the children were waiting for meeting their destiny, the city railway police of Bangalore on their enquiry could find that they were the victims of child trafficking. The police then handed over the children to the child welfare committee of Government of Karnataka. However it was not an easy task to learn the whereabouts of the children as they could neither speak nor understand any language other than their mother tongue.
While the children stayed in Balamandir, the children’s home at Madiwala in Bangalore, news was appeared in the Bangalore edition of The Hindu on February 13. Getting the news in the internet edition of the paper, U. Daniel of Migration Information & Resources Centre, Bhubaneswar, circulated the information in all the e-discussion forums in Orissa. And here, Mr. Panda got in touch with Mr. Daniel.

Parents informed


Following their interaction, Mr. Panda extended his support to Manjunath, an activist from Concern for Working Children, Bangalore, in translating the message of the children. While the parents of the children were reaching Bangalore after getting information on the rescue operation, action by the district administration at Rayagada was needed to facilitate the return of the children to their home, Mr. Daniel said.






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