jjustice & care& care
ISSUE 5
Caram
MAY - JUNE 2009
JJUSTICE & CARE& CARE
defining justice
5 teenage boys no longer have to sell cold drinks The Justice & Care team was able to rescued five minor children from being forced to sell cold drinks in Bangalore. Justice & Care investigators found out about at least 5 minor children who were being forced to work and sell cold drinks on a cart. They were employed illegally. The children were made to push heavy carts containing these cold drinks for approximately ten kilometers every day. This strenuous labour resulted in the children being vulnerable to poor health and premature aging. When they were not pushing the carts, they were confined to a space and not allowed to go outside of it. The children were not paid anything as their parents were paid an amount that was a bonded debt. The children were supposed to work against this
amount. On May 29, 2009, the Justice & Care team along with the police from Hebbal Police station and waited to receive a signal showing that the children were ready to move from the owner’s place onto the streets to start selling. As soon as they received the signal, the team hit the location and was able to rescue the five boys who were waiting in a queue and were ready to leave and start their work for the day. The employer wasn’t at his place at the time of the raid and so his wife was asked to go to the police station. The employer followed shortly. Meanwhile the police here very reluctant to file a First Information report but after a lot of arguing and convincing, they finally took down statements from the children rescued.
One of the boys pushing the cart. The Assistant Commissioner of Police appreciated the work done and assured Justice & Care of help and cooperation in the future. The children were taken to the Government Boys Home while the accused was left in police custody.
Rescued girl back at home with family *Sonia came from a family of zari makers who possess the skill and hard work to decorate the borders of saris and similar fabrics. Sonia lived with her family in the village. She was having problems with a boy from the village who was harassing her and hence her family decided to send her to stay with her brother’s family. While she was staying there, she met a lady called Sabina, who asked her to accompany her to visit her grandmother. She agreed but soon found that they were boarding a train. On asking where she was being taken, Sabina told her that they were going to Mumbai for a few days. At first Sonia refused but then Sabina coaxed her into going along. When they were on the train, Sabina
told her that she was into prostitution and that she intended to sell Sonia into the same trade. A man and his wife, (Kayum & Jyoti) came to pick them up at the train station. Sonia narrates the horrors of how she was abused and raped by Kayum while being held down by Sabina and Jyoti. She said that Kayum raped her number of times and she was also intoxicated forcefully. She was then told that she was going to be sent home while they were making plans to sell her off. As Sabina was packing Sonia’s bag in preparation to sell her off, the Justice & Care team, along with the police, arrived on the scene and rescued her. Kayum was arrested. Sonia was placed at an aftercare facility while her medical tests were carried out. They showed that she
was between 15 and 16 years of age. Since then, Sonia went to another shelter home in her home state and after a month went back to her family. She is currently working in the family business of zari making. She keeps in touch regularly with the Justice & Care team. The charge sheet has been filed in her case but charges have not been framed. The trial can only happen when the charges are framed. *Name changed to protect privacy
JUSTICE & CARE Defining Justice
What will Radha do now? Everyone in Bangalore knew them. They were the children at the traffic signals, the ones performing acrobatic and circus tricks for the passengers in the thousands of vehicles that pass through Bangalore’s roads. All this in a span of a minute, when the traffic stilled and the actors came on stage. Just before the light turned green, these agile performers would approach each passenger with an outstretched arm, asking for a token of appreciation for the entertainment they provide. And so the days became months and these children became one of the many common sights of Bangalore, their performances one of the many additions to a person’s daily schedule. Eight year old Radha* wakes up by dawn, from the shelter of her tent. This has been her home for the past six months ever since she moved with her family and community to the city of Bangalore. There are other tents by them, each with a family similar to Radha’s, all hailing from the same community. Sometimes she would take her five year old brother
face a childhood where the only thing they have ever been taught is to perform tricks and the only school they have ever attended is at the traffic signal, learning how to beg money for themselves and their families. On February 14, 2009, Justice & Care, in alliance with APSA, BOSCO, CWC, DWCD & the Karnataka Police, rescued 19 such children, along with 9 of their handlers (who were later found to be their parents and relatives), day. Post rescue, all the accused were produced before the area magistrate, where they pleaded guilty and were convicted, and the rescued children were produced before the CWC which placed them into the State home to further their rehabilitation & after care. Post rescue, while the children stayed in the State Home, the social workers talked to their parents and discovered that most of these people were not even
why they were rescued and brought to the Homes, and enquired about their parents who were arrested, and if they were released. After a lot of counseling, some of these children showed positive response to the prospect of education, but mostly, they wanted to reunite with their parents and return to their native place in Chhattisgarh. Since all the victims hail from Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh, the CWC, ultimately, passed an order for their transfer from State Homes in Bangalore to the State Homes at Chhattisgarh. Stories such as these sometimes question the very theory on which the social and legal machinery of the nation operate. The social worker sometimes pauses to comprehend the psychological contradiction of the rescued child, with regard to the rescuer or the law maker who devised the public spirited laws. From the point of
FOLLOW THE BLOGS POSTED ON OUR WEBSITE! http://www.justiceandcare.com or http://justiceandcare.wordpress.com along with the other children in her community, and they would be taken to different traffic signals around Bangalore. And so her day begins. Her cue is the traffic signal. She knows once the light turns red she must come and show her skills. Her five year old brother with his dance and she with her acrobats, together they are a real crowd puller. Passengers give them lots of money. When asked she would say proudly that she is a Nutt from Bilaspur. She has been brought up in a family where the children are trained to perform in a raid conducted on the same such tricks right from their childhood. She hails from a community which wanders throughout the country, with the children, performing tricks at traffic signals and other places; a community where children are viewed as a source of income right from such a tender age. These children
aware of the fact that beggary was illegal and a punishable crime and those children were entitled to compulsory education up to the age of 14 years, according to the law of the land. The story of these children post rescue, at the State Home in Bangalore, painted an altogether different picture of how much the socio-legal system of the nation differs in practicality from its black and white version. The children placed in these State Homes are referred to as “children in need of care and protection”, but these children, when they were allowed to meet their parents, narrated shocking instances of other boys beating them up and misbehaving with them. These children questioned the social workers as to
view of the Law, these children require protection as their basic human rights are being violated; from the rescuer’s point of view, they need rehabilitation and after care; but from their own uneducated, naive and juvenile viewpoint, they face the same violation even in the Homes where they have been “rescued” to, they face the same exploitation within and beyond the walls of the system that works to protect them. In such situations, one wonders whom to blame- the child, the rescuer, the law, the society or the system itself. A probable remedy would be to spread the awareness, which will help all these entities function in mutual harmony and ensure a better future not only for the child but also for the nation.
JUSTICE & CARE DEFINING JUSTICE
Two boys rescued from child labour in Kolkata The team found that the children were made to work really hard and their tasks included doing the dishes, wiping the tables, serving water, etc.
One of the young boys rescued, working at the hotel before the rescue took place In May 2009, the Justice & Care team found around 3-5 children working in a hotel who were between 10-13 years.
After receiving news that there had been a tip-off, a complaint letter was submitted for the same. At about the same time, the team received news that 2 of the boys could be seen inside the hotel while the others could be found hiding in a godown across the road.
The hotel owners and the other staff were found to be rude and abusive to them and made them work hard for long hours without rest. When this information was relayed to the police, they Justice & Care took this mentioned that the paperwork information to the police and they had been completed and that they then decided to go on a raid. would go on later and rescue the After numerous postponements other boys. and going back and forth many The team then left the police times, the police raiding team station and the boys were taken to went to the locations and returned a shelter home. with 2 boys who looked older than those targeted to be rescued.
Case Figures for May – June 2009 Number Rescued
Source
Details
Number of Accused Arrested
1
Referral
Bangalore SATHI
0
2
Referral
Child Welfare Committee (Bangalore)
0
5
Self Generated
Rescued from Bonded Labour (Bangalore)
1
1
Self Generated
Rescued from Bhandup
4
1
Self Generated
Rescued from Congress House
0
(No FIR filed) 2
Self Generated
Rescued from child labour
1
(Kolkata) 1
Self Generated
Rescued from child labour
2
(Kolkata)
Total Number since Sept 2007
Justice & Care online
Number of Victims Rescued
221
www.justiceandcare.com
Number of Victims in Aftercare Facilities
92
www.justiceandcare.org
Number of Victims Repatriated
128
www.twitter.com/justiceandcare
Number of convictions
11
http://bit.ly/Ip4Hl (Follow us on Face book)
Number of Prosecution cases
59
Number of Accused Arrested
122
Trials in Progress
8
Caram
MAY - JUNE 2009
JJUSTICE & CARE& CARE
defining justice
5 teenage boys no longer have to sell cold drinks The Justice & Care team was able to rescued five minor children from being forced to sell cold drinks in Bangalore. Justice & Care investigators found out about at least 5 minor children who were being forced to work and sell cold drinks on a cart. They were employed illegally. The children were made to push heavy carts containing these cold drinks for approximately ten kilometers every day. This strenuous labour resulted in the children being vulnerable to poor health and premature aging. When they were not pushing the carts, they were confined to a space and not allowed to go outside of it. The children were not paid anything as their parents were paid an amount that was a bonded debt. The children were supposed to work against this
amount. On May 29, 2009, the Justice & Care team along with the police from Hebbal Police station and waited to receive a signal showing that the children were ready to move from the owner’s place onto the streets to start selling. As soon as they received the signal, the team hit the location and was able to rescue the five boys who were waiting in a queue and were ready to leave and start their work for the day. The employer wasn’t at his place at the time of the raid and so his wife was asked to go to the police station. The employer followed shortly. Meanwhile the police here very reluctant to file a First Information report but after a lot of arguing and convincing, they finally took down statements from the children rescued.
One of the boys pushing the cart. The Assistant Commissioner of Police appreciated the work done and assured Justice & Care of help and cooperation in the future. The children were taken to the Government Boys Home while the accused was left in police custody.
Rescued girl back at home with family *Sonia came from a family of zari makers who possess the skill and hard work to decorate the borders of saris and similar fabrics. Sonia lived with her family in the village. She was having problems with a boy from the village who was harassing her and hence her family decided to send her to stay with her brother’s family. While she was staying there, she met a lady called Sabina, who asked her to accompany her to visit her grandmother. She agreed but soon found that they were boarding a train. On asking where she was being taken, Sabina told her that they were going to Mumbai for a few days. At first Sonia refused but then Sabina coaxed her into going along. When they were on the train, Sabina
told her that she was into prostitution and that she intended to sell Sonia into the same trade. A man and his wife, (Kayum & Jyoti) came to pick them up at the train station. Sonia narrates the horrors of how she was abused and raped by Kayum while being held down by Sabina and Jyoti. She said that Kayum raped her number of times and she was also intoxicated forcefully. She was then told that she was going to be sent home while they were making plans to sell her off. As Sabina was packing Sonia’s bag in preparation to sell her off, the Justice & Care team, along with the police, arrived on the scene and rescued her. Kayum was arrested. Sonia was placed at an aftercare facility while her medical tests were carried out. They showed that she
was between 15 and 16 years of age. Since then, Sonia went to another shelter home in her home state and after a month went back to her family. She is currently working in the family business of zari making. She keeps in touch regularly with the Justice & Care team. The charge sheet has been filed in her case but charges have not been framed. The trial can only happen when the charges are framed. *Name changed to protect privacy
JUSTICE & CARE Defining Justice
What will Radha do now? Everyone in Bangalore knew them. They were the children at the traffic signals, the ones performing acrobatic and circus tricks for the passengers in the thousands of vehicles that pass through Bangalore’s roads. All this in a span of a minute, when the traffic stilled and the actors came on stage. Just before the light turned green, these agile performers would approach each passenger with an outstretched arm, asking for a token of appreciation for the entertainment they provide. And so the days became months and these children became one of the many common sights of Bangalore, their performances one of the many additions to a person’s daily schedule. Eight year old Radha* wakes up by dawn, from the shelter of her tent. This has been her home for the past six months ever since she moved with her family and community to the city of Bangalore. There are other tents by them, each with a family similar to Radha’s, all hailing from the same community. Sometimes she would take her five year old brother
face a childhood where the only thing they have ever been taught is to perform tricks and the only school they have ever attended is at the traffic signal, learning how to beg money for themselves and their families. On February 14, 2009, Justice & Care, in alliance with APSA, BOSCO, CWC, DWCD & the Karnataka Police, rescued 19 such children, along with 9 of their handlers (who were later found to be their parents and relatives), day. Post rescue, all the accused were produced before the area magistrate, where they pleaded guilty and were convicted, and the rescued children were produced before the CWC which placed them into the State home to further their rehabilitation & after care. Post rescue, while the children stayed in the State Home, the social workers talked to their parents and discovered that most of these people were not even
why they were rescued and brought to the Homes, and enquired about their parents who were arrested, and if they were released. After a lot of counseling, some of these children showed positive response to the prospect of education, but mostly, they wanted to reunite with their parents and return to their native place in Chhattisgarh. Since all the victims hail from Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh, the CWC, ultimately, passed an order for their transfer from State Homes in Bangalore to the State Homes at Chhattisgarh. Stories such as these sometimes question the very theory on which the social and legal machinery of the nation operate. The social worker sometimes pauses to comprehend the psychological contradiction of the rescued child, with regard to the rescuer or the law maker who devised the public spirited laws. From the point of
FOLLOW THE BLOGS POSTED ON OUR WEBSITE! http://www.justiceandcare.com or http://justiceandcare.wordpress.com along with the other children in her community, and they would be taken to different traffic signals around Bangalore. And so her day begins. Her cue is the traffic signal. She knows once the light turns red she must come and show her skills. Her five year old brother with his dance and she with her acrobats, together they are a real crowd puller. Passengers give them lots of money. When asked she would say proudly that she is a Nutt from Bilaspur. She has been brought up in a family where the children are trained to perform in a raid conducted on the same such tricks right from their childhood. She hails from a community which wanders throughout the country, with the children, performing tricks at traffic signals and other places; a community where children are viewed as a source of income right from such a tender age. These children
aware of the fact that beggary was illegal and a punishable crime and those children were entitled to compulsory education up to the age of 14 years, according to the law of the land. The story of these children post rescue, at the State Home in Bangalore, painted an altogether different picture of how much the socio-legal system of the nation differs in practicality from its black and white version. The children placed in these State Homes are referred to as “children in need of care and protection”, but these children, when they were allowed to meet their parents, narrated shocking instances of other boys beating them up and misbehaving with them. These children questioned the social workers as to
view of the Law, these children require protection as their basic human rights are being violated; from the rescuer’s point of view, they need rehabilitation and after care; but from their own uneducated, naive and juvenile viewpoint, they face the same violation even in the Homes where they have been “rescued” to, they face the same exploitation within and beyond the walls of the system that works to protect them. In such situations, one wonders whom to blame- the child, the rescuer, the law, the society or the system itself. A probable remedy would be to spread the awareness, which will help all these entities function in mutual harmony and ensure a better future not only for the child but also for the nation.
JUSTICE & CARE DEFINING JUSTICE
Two boys rescued from child labour in Kolkata The team found that the children were made to work really hard and their tasks included doing the dishes, wiping the tables, serving water, etc.
One of the young boys rescued, working at the hotel before the rescue took place In May 2009, the Justice & Care team found around 3-5 children working in a hotel who were between 10-13 years.
After receiving news that there had been a tip-off, a complaint letter was submitted for the same. At about the same time, the team received news that 2 of the boys could be seen inside the hotel while the others could be found hiding in a godown across the road.
The hotel owners and the other staff were found to be rude and abusive to them and made them work hard for long hours without rest. When this information was relayed to the police, they Justice & Care took this mentioned that the paperwork information to the police and they had been completed and that they then decided to go on a raid. would go on later and rescue the After numerous postponements other boys. and going back and forth many The team then left the police times, the police raiding team station and the boys were taken to went to the locations and returned a shelter home. with 2 boys who looked older than those targeted to be rescued.
Case Figures for May – June 2009 Number Rescued
Source
Details
Number of Accused Arrested
1
Referral
Bangalore SATHI
0
2
Referral
Child Welfare Committee (Bangalore)
0
5
Self Generated
Rescued from Bonded Labour (Bangalore)
1
1
Self Generated
Rescued from Bhandup
4
1
Self Generated
Rescued from Congress House
0
(No FIR filed) 2
Self Generated
Rescued from child labour
1
(Kolkata) 1
Self Generated
Rescued from child labour
2
(Kolkata)
Total Number since Sept 2007
Justice & Care online
Number of Victims Rescued
221
www.justiceandcare.com
Number of Victims in Aftercare Facilities
92
www.justiceandcare.org
Number of Victims Repatriated
128
www.twitter.com/justiceandcare
Number of convictions
11
http://bit.ly/Ip4Hl (Follow us on Face book)
Number of Prosecution cases
59
Number of Accused Arrested
122
Trials in Progress
8
