Rescued victims left in the lurch

Hyderabad: A rescue of victims of abuse, trafficking or child labor is often followed by the authorities searching for homes or temporary accommodations. In January, after the rescue of over 200 children in a cordoned-off search, they were shifted to a nearby “function hall” for a short period.

As a temporary shelter, an orphanage was also used. The rescue operations that followed after the first one saw 325 kids being rescued. Thereafter, a few NGOs came forward to house the children till the rehabilitation procedures are initiated.

“The state should be accountable and set up protective homes as per the standard of care already prescribed (by them). It is a straight forward case; there is no proper support system for victims of abuse,” said Sunitha Krishnan, co-founder of anti-trafficking organisation Prajwala.

More often than not, the victim of abuse ends up in the lap of the government, which lacks a uniform protocol of rescue and rehabilitation and their fate is dependent on the departments involved in the rescue operation.

“We don’t have an up-to-date list of all the homes, both state-run and NGO-run, where kids or women rescued from trafficking can be placed. Post a rescue, imagine calling up homes and asking if they can accommodate so and so number of victims. The departments of Police, Women and Child, Labor along with the NGOs should definitely be working in a much more coordinated manner,” said a senior police official from the city. The post-rescue procedures of the government have always been under scanner for lack of proper standards.

Recently, two PILs by Ms Sunitha Krishnan, the High Court directed both states to put in place reforms and proper state-run facilities post-rescue.