DC stops death-defying tightrope walk by minor

Balwant Garg

Tribune News Service

Faridkot, September 14

Taking a serious note of death-defying acrobatic tightrope walk-like stunts by a minor girl here on Saturday, four days before the start of annual Baba Farid Mela, the Faridkot Deputy Commissioner (DC) Kumar Saurabh Raj issued instructions to ensure that there was no use of children to earn livelihood as it is a violation of Child Labour (Prohibition And Regulation) Amendment Act.

The custody of the minor girl was given to an NGO in Faridkot.

It is highly pathetic that under the blistering sun, a small girl is made to walk on a tightrope by her parents to earn livelihood, he said. “I came across this scene near Sadiq Chowk today. It is more pitiable that people were also getting themselves entertained at the cost of a child’s life. At the end of the game, the family members of the girl were to collect money from spectators,” he said.

Many times, children fall and get crippled, he said.

After stopping the child act, the DC summoned the District Child Protection Officer and asked him to send the girl to an NGO, Radhe Krishan Dham.

There are strict directions that there should be no violation of Child Labour (Prohibition And Regulation) Amendment Act, particularly during the one-week long Baba Farid Annual Festival, starting on September 18 here, the DC said.

Like other death-defying activities, tightrope walking attracts huge spectators. Minor girls can be seen not only walking on ropes, but also performing dangerous stunts by balancing earthen pots over their head and riding a bicycle wheel on a rope at the height of about 20 feet.