Hyderabad: The employers of Farah, the 11-year-old who was rescued from bonded labour earlier this month from Mehdipatnam, have approached the Andhra Pradesh State Minority Commission (APSMC) with a request to let them take care of the girl.
The family which had branded and injured Farah and fed her one meal a day, has pleaded for a chance to let them help her get educated and provide other basic amenities.
“The family who had employed her did approach APSMC with a petition, but we have dismissed and disposed the request. The commission would want the police to take up investigation and the accused to be punished as per law,” said Mr Abid Rasool Khan, chairman, APSMC.
Sources said that the cops had asked the family to approach APSMC with a petition as there was a lot of pressure from higher-ups to expedite the case.
Farah was rescued on July 8 and no case was lodged till the APSMC took suo motu note of a report in this paper and issued notices. After repeated notices and reminders, the case has now reached till the FIR stage.
“We have taken a statement from the victim. An FIR has been registered for voluntarily causing hurt, wrongful confinement, criminal intimidation, child labour, sections of Juvenile Justice Act and Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act,” said the investigating officer.
The police say that they took the accused under remand but released the person as a family member of the accused is in hospital.
State commission picks school for abused girl
The AP State Minority Commission (APSMC), which had taken suo motu note of the Farah case, has come up with two options for her schooling.
The commission is considering the Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya in Suryapet, Nalgonda, a residential school where girls are also given skill training apart from regular classes. Everything, including food and clothing, will be taken care of at the school, said the commission chairman Abid Rasool Khan.
He said the commission was also considering a co-ed school in Barkas which had few girl students, but the KGBV would be the first choice. “We have asked the director of School Education to make arrangements for her admission and we will shift her to a school by coordinating with the Women and Child Welfare department,” Mr Khan said. The final call will be taken on Monday.
