HORRORS OF CHILD TRAFFICKING
Children are the most vulnerable
targets for the criminal gangs and mafias who use them for cheap labor, as
pushers and sellers in the field of narcotic substances and as sources of
commercialized sexual exploitation. In most of the instances where children go
missing, no FIRs are even registered until a specific
crime under IPC or Juvenile Justice Act is alleged or revealed which makes it
easier for traffickers to continue the offence.
In 2013 May in two bizarre
incidents, 589 children aged between 3 and 16 were found traveling in a train from
Northern States of the Country to Palakkad District in Kerala without any
tickets. The first batch of 466 children from Bihar
and Jharkhand came by the Patna-Ernakulam Express; the second batch of 123
children came from West Bengal by the Guwahati-Thiruvananthapuram Express.
They were accompanied by four men who had taken tickets for themselves. The
matter was reported by Railway Authorities to the Police who intimated the
Child Welfare Committee in Palakkad.
I was Additional Director
General of Police in charge of Special Services & Traffic that time.
Special Services meant protection Women & Children in distress. I proceeded
to the place and conducted a detailed enquiry. My enquiries revealed that the
children were transported to two orphanages- Mohammed Abdul Rahman Memorial Muslim Orphanage in Mukkam, Kozhikkode
District and Vettathur Anwarul Orphanage in Malappuram District. Buses arranged from these orphanages carried the children
and the authorities from the concerned orphanages remitted the ticket fee and
penalties at the Railway office for ticketless traveling of the children.
The children were from
Jharkhand, Bihar and West Bengal. There were 156 girls in the group and the
youngest of them was aged 3. The youngest boy was aged 4 and eldest, 15. Enquiries conducted at these orphanages
revealed that such instances of child trafficking were happening since the year
2000 and children were transported from North Indian States to Kerala
apparently for the purpose of education and accommodation to the poor children
who could not afford them in their home States.
The orphanages also
run private aided schools which get funds from Government. It was
revealed that one reason behind transportation of children to the state was to
prevent the 'division fall' due to shortage of students in these schools.
Although the children are not taught there, their names will be included in the
list of students. The
children were not given any formal education since they do not understand
either Malayalam or English but were taught classes in the holy Quran at these
orphanages although not all the children transported were from Muslim community.
Another
reason was that shortage of inmates in the orphanage had adversely affected
collection of funds as contributions are government grants aids, from local
sources and from abroad.
They get Rs 100/- per day for each inmate from the Social Welfare Department and
also get huge donations from abroad, especially the Gulf Countries. None of the children were orphans and they all had living
parents and some of the parents signed forms giving permission to the above
orphanages to transport the children. The
two private Muslim Orphanages were owned by persons having strong political
influence.
No proper records of
children brought from other States were available in these institutions and
whereabouts of children transported earlier were not known on enquiry. These orphanages had recruited the four persons who were
found with the children and they function as agents in North Indian States to
canvass for children in poor families. The orphanages were exempted from formal
registration by a notification of the Kerala Government and hence had no rules,
by-laws or procedures are in existence. Neither were they bound under the
provisions of Juvenile Justice Act for the safety and protection of children.
Although the orphanages
and the Government refused to see any crime in this, on my report, two crime
cases were registered at the Railway Police Station, Palakkad which are still under investigation by CBCID Kerala. Three of the four
agents as well as two employees of these orphanages were arrested by the police
and the fourth agent is still absconding. There was a plea at the High Court of Kerala to transfer this case to
CBI considering its sensitive nature and implications across the different
States in the Country, but no specific orders were issued by the High Court on
this so far. The PIL was filed at the High Court by
Rajendra Prasad, president of 'Thampu', an NGO in Kerala.
Orphanages in Kerala employ agents who open office in poor areas
in the Northern States to ‘recruit orphans’ to the orphanages. In Godda in Jharkhand
and Malda in West Bengal, such offices were started as ‘orphan recruiting
offices’. The agents get paid based monthly remuneration and incentives based
on the number of orphans they recruit. Some parents have admitted that the
agents gave Rs 1000 for each child while some parents claimed they gave money
to the agents for taking their child to good institutions in Kerala. The parents
were made to believe that children will be taken to Kerala for giving them good
education, accommodation, food and subsequent employment and they had no idea
that they were taken to orphanages. The agents obtained signature from some
parents in a form as proof that it was with their consent that children were
brought to Kerala. Police found that these forms as well as forms they produced
as ‘No-objection’ from the concerned Panchayats for taking away the children
were forged and the handwriting and signatures were found to be the same in all
the forms. Also, the names of schools which were mentioned in the forms were of
fictitious and non-existing educational institutions in Kerala.
The parents of these
children were under the impression that it was for proper education and good
nutrition that the children are taken away from their houses and they would
become doctors or engineers in future! Since the orphanages do not keep any
records of children, there is no evidence to find out what actually happen to
the children, especially those children who were brought there earlier at these
orphanages. There were allegations and speculations that the boys were given
sold and used in factories and companies as sources of cheap labor and the
girls were taken for sex trafficking at tourism centers/ massage parlors. The authorities at the orphanage claim that
those children who completed their education went back to their villages. But
further enquiries could not be conducted to verify this since names and
addresses of the children were not available at these orphanages.
Strangely,
there were some hue and cry when FIRs were registered and many said it was
unfair that the humane acts by these orphanages to give free education,
boarding and lodging by these institutions was dubbed as trafficking of children. Strange too, was the
response from Government at the High Court when they supported the
orphanages and stated that the children were brought as a charitable act and it
was neither a crime nor a case of trafficking. The High Court however refused
to accept this plea and ordered the children to be transported back to their
homes in Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal and further ordered sustained
investigation into the cases by CBCID.
Some
questions are quite relevant here.
1. Is there an acute shortage of orphans
in Kerala that these orphanages have to bring non-orphan children from States
in North India for their sustenance? Aren’t there any established systems in those
States to take care of poor children?
2. If these kids are not admitted in any
schools, what sort of education are they given? Especially when they cannot
understand either Malayalam or English? Did the parents send their children for
madrassa education alone?
3. Why are children with parents deemed
as orphans and taken to orphanages? Was it for charity or just for financial
benefits?
4. Why are these orphanages exempted
from the control of Child Rights Committees and Social Welfare Department and
not registered under Juvenile Justice Act section 34(3)?
5. Since these orphanages and most of
the children brought from Northern States are from a certain specific
community, was the purpose of transporting them to teach them religion and holy
verses akin to madrassa education alone?
6. What happen to children who reach above
the age of 18 at these orphanages? Are they sent back to their homes or sold as
cheap labor? Are the girls trafficked for sexual crimes?
7. Why are girls aged from 3 upwards too
brought from Northern States to the orphanages? Especially when madrassa
education is reserved for only boys? Are they used as domestic help, in the
kitchen or trafficked?
8. Have the agents obtained permission
from the concerned State authorities for transporting children from that State
to orphanages in Kerala?
9. Is there any auditing done on these
orphanages to verify their claims of money from Government and other sources
and whether proper care is given to the children? Also whether there are proper
records maintained for each child?
The questions above may
all be hopefully answered by the Investigating Officer of the crime cases,
which may prevent such instances from happening again in the future.
Sadly, despite police
action in the above two cases, instances like this continue to occur in Kerala.
In June 2014, 23 minor boys were
rescued by Police from Jamaliya Arabic College, in Kottiyam, Kerala following an
allegation of human trafficking. This Institution did not provide any
elementary education but instead taught children the Quran. This private and
non-registered institute-cum-shelter was closed down by the police that month
itself. Acting on a tip off, police had rescued the children and shifted them to
a government juvenile home. The college was found bringing boys from Jharkhand
to give Quran classes since 2009 and had taken children from other States in
several batches. The police do not have any clear information on where these
children went after their life at this college since no register was maintained
at this place too. The investigating officer said the lessons were in Arabic
but a teacher from Jharkhand would translate and clear the children’s doubts.
The teacher, Abdul Mohazil, was among the three arrested, along with college
treasurers Thajudeen and Bashir. Navas Rasheed, who owns the institute, is
still at large.
Last month witnessed another
incident where 57 boys from Bihar and Assam were found traveling to an
orphanage in Malappuram District, Kerala accompanied by two men. The police
have already started enquiring into this incident. But the big question
remains- what is the motive of this mass transportation of children to Kerala?
Money is of course one reason since Government grant is available for these
institutions based on the number of inmates. For aid from abroad too, the list
of inmates with their photographs are needed. But if it is just for money that
the children are transported from the States of Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal
and Assam, then it is just an irregularity and not trafficking in the strict
sense.
These
institutions are not monitored or under control by any agency, so they can do
anything to these children. Even if they are sold off in the nearby areas for
manual bonded labor or even used for organ transplant, no one will ask any
questions since they do not fetch any votes for anyone. The minor boys and girls
within the four walls of the orphanage in a strange land where no one can
understand their language can be exploited and no one will know about it.
While it is always better
to reduce red tapes in governance, it is advisable to insist on thicker and
tougher red tapes where children and their rights are concerned. After all, the
future of our Country is vested in their tiny hands and it is our duty to see
that they are not exploited or misused.
