Contractor hands over 6 child labourers to CID

In what seems to be a tale of a crime, contrition and confession in the face of death, a 53-year-old man who had brought six children to work as child labourers in Gujarat, handed them over to the police on Saturday.

The man, suffering from the last stage of throat cancer, told police officials that he was on his deathbed and wanted to make sure that the children, aged 13 and 14 years old, reached back to their homes in Chandauli district of UP.

Officials from the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit (AHTU) of the CID informed Mirror that the sick man, also from UP, lived in a two-room house in Jetpur town of Rajkot with his wife, his own 10-year-old son and six kids who he had brought from Chandauli district to do casual labour.

After going through his medical records which showed that the man was indeed on his deathbed, and with children not complaining of ill-treatment, the sick person was not arrested. A note was made in the station diary at Jetpur police station regarding the incident and the rescue of the six children. Officials declined to name the man as he was already in the last stage of the incurable disease.

Speaking of how the incident came to light, an officer said, “The man had desired that the children reach back home safely as he had brought them to Gujarat. So, his friend called the Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA) founded by Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi. Members of the NGO informed the CID.

On the orders of ADGP Anil Pratham of the Women and Child Cell of Gujarat Police, a team was sent to bring back the children. ADGP Anil Pratham said, “Our primary work is to save the children, hence we did not file an offence in the matter. This is the first time we have seen someone who has brought children to another state, handing them over himself.”