SCPCR rescues three minor labourers

Close on the heels of Operation Smile, wherein 200 child labourers were rescued from the Old City, child rights protection officials conducted a raid at a plush gated colony, Whisper Valley, on Sunday and rescued three children working as domestic help.

On receiving a tip-off, State Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (SCPCR) authorities along with labour department officials rushed to Whisper Valley, where two girls and a boy - 14 year-old Birsi Baruva of Jharkhand and 15-year-olds Chandrakala of Mahbubnagar district and Daivaprasad of West Godavari district - were freed and shifted to rescue homes at Nimboliadda and Saidabad.

“It has become a common practice for private agencies to pick up children, especially girls, from backward states like Jharkahand, Bihar and Orissa and deploy them to Hyderabad,” Achyuta Rao, member of SCPCR told CityTAB. A Class II dropout, Baruva was picked up by Ranchi Jharkhand Placement Centre and Vishwari Placement Services and was deployed to work for one, A Krishna Kiran.

Baruva admitted that her employer had branded her with cigarettes and iron rods, showing her hands and feet as evidence. “Surprisingly, Khairatabad MLA Chintala Ramachandra Reddy threatened SCPCR officials with dire consequences if the rescued children weren’t sent back to their employers immediately,” Rao said. Lamenting the move, Rao said that they will bring the issue to the notice of BJP state president G Kishan Reddy. They are also planning to conduct a special drive as 50 more children are said to be working in the same locality. They will mount pressure on the employers.