Trafficked from Bihar, 12-yr-old rescued from Kapurthala farm

Aparna Banerji

Advertisement

Jalandhar, October 5

Nearly six months after 13 child labourers were rescued from potato farms at Sidhwa Dona village in Kapurthala, a team of NGO Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA), Bihar, and the Kapurthala police on Monday night rescued a 12-year-old boy from a farm at Sial village in Kapurthala. The child, hailing from Sitamarhi district in Bihar, had been brought to Punjab in January 2021.

The boy’s mother had lodged an FIR in Sitamarhi on August 30 regarding the trafficking of her son. This is the 14th child labourer to be rescued from potato farms in Kapurthala in six months.

Hailing from Bathuara village (on the Indo-Nepal border) in Sitamarhi, the child’s mother had sent her son to Punjab with Bihar-based traffickers, after being lured into a prospect of a job for him as a domestic help. The key accused — Bigan Rai and his associate Mishri Rai — have been named in the FIR lodged under Sections 363, 370, 174, 504, 506 and 34 of the IPC in Sitamarhi. Notably, Bigan Rai was also the key accused in the April child trafficking case of Kapurthala. He is currently in the police custody, while Mishri Rai is still at large.

A team of Punjab BBA activists, Bihar and Kapurthala cops and the tehsildar raided Sial village. The now rescued boy, upon seeing the vehicle which his mother was in, instantly recognised her and

hugged her.

The farm was then raided and godowns and motor rooms checked by the joint team. An amount of Rs 84,000, which payable to the boy by the owners of the farm, was deposited to the mother’s account through the Labour Department.

Sadar Police Station, Kapurthala, SHO, said: “An FIR hasn’t been lodged in Punjab yet, but we will do so as per the report and proceedings in the case. We are on the lookout for such farms and possible more such cases where children are being kept illegally.”

“An FIR is already lodged at Bihar in this case. I will get an FIR lodged in Punjab on Thursday. The requisite departmental proceedings are on as well,” said Lal Vishwas Bains, Kapurthala SDM.

Made to work 15 hours a day

The boy was trafficked last year from Sitamarhi to Kapurthala along with other children… he was made to work for 14 to 15 hours a day at a potato farm. Owners often beat him up and didn’t pay him anything. — Yadvinder Singh, Bachpan Bachao Andolan