Child begging racket busted, 300 rescued

Bangalore, Dec 15: A child begging racket was busted in the IT city, Bangalore. As many as 300 children was rescued from the clutches of beggary mafia by city police troop. Hundreds of kids were trafficked, drugged and forced to beg on the streets. Most of the children rescued were all infants.

They beg the whole day for money and run when they notice a camera. Older kids were also taught to hide themselves from cameras. The children were controlled by the street bosses.

"It does affect their development, depending on how prolong the drug use has been and how much they've been subjected to this kind of torture because they are out during the day in the sun," said Anita Kanaiya, a rescue worker. Many salvaged kids are now at government houses.

"My parents sent me to beg they said don't come home empty-handed. If I took less than Rs 200 back they used to beat me," said a rescued child beggar.

The police team is yet to catch the masterminds behind the beggary mafia. The NGOs, who surveyed the city on child beggars, claimed that they have video evidence, in which, close to 1100 children were being forced to beg on the streets of Bangalore by some suspected traffickers.

"Many of these babies we're not sure they belong to the adults, we're not even sure the adults are relatives or not. Many who have claimed the babies are theirs have no proof really.

"Mostly these children are from neighbouring states Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chattisgarh and totally we have booked nine such cases," said Anand Kabburi, anti-trafficking unit inspector.

"One of the aims of this operation 'Rakshane' is to see the connection between child beggary and child trafficking," Kanaiya said.

India's future lies in younger generation but few coldblooded barbarians make children beg to get their bellies filled, in spite of knowing the injustice they're committing to country's future.

Almost all the rescued children were under the influence of drugs. Few infants were dosed so heavily that they were asleep for days at NGOs' pad.

The government has started a service called Dial 1908. If you happen to see any child beggar call the mentioned number and report to the authorities. They do respond on time. By doing this you can pull a kid out of the hell and help get back his/her childhood.

OneIndia News