Hyderabad: As many as 101 children, including 24 girls, who were forced into child labour, begging, and rag picking, were rescued by Cyberabad police under Operation Smile. The police registered 25 cases against those who engaged the children as labourers, and the children were admitted to shelter homes.
During the operation, which was carried out from March 20 to May 15, Cyberabad police teams rescued 77 boys and 24 girls. Six among them, who were found to have run away from home and taken to rag picking, were handed over to their parents, while the other children were admitted to shelter homes as per the directions received from the Child Welfare Committee.
The youngest children rescued include a boy aged four and a boy and a girl aged five.
Fourteen boys and six girls were rescued from the streets, 50 boys and 13 girls from commercial establishments where they had been forced to work. Thirteen boys and five girls were rescued from rag picking, the police said.
“Of all the children who have been rescued, 38 boys and 16 girls belong to other states. As many as 25 cases have been registered against the persons who employed the children as labourers. Further investigation is underway to uncover how these children reached the city and to identify their family members. The children who have been admitted to shelter homes are also being provided education,” the Cyberabad police said.
Under the Operation Asara programme, a total of 58 persons who were found unattended on the streets and not accompanied by family members were rescued and sent to Anand Ashram, managed by the State Prisons Department. Eleven men, all aged above 55 years, were sent to Chanchalguda Anand Ashram, while the women were admitted to the Ashram in Cherlapally.
