Everyday Delhi sees an influx of children from States like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, West Bengal and, Andhra Pradesh and more making their way into the city unaccompanied. These children often come to Delhi with the hope that the city will be a welcome change, however eventually if not rescued, they become victims of violence, sexual assault, addiction and more.
According to the Delhi Police data, “From January 2018 till November 15, there were 574 minors below the age of 18 who were rescued from railway platforms at different railway stations in the National capital by the Government Railway Police (GRP). This included 288 male and 286 female children. Data from 2017 revealed that a total of 584 under age minors were rescued in the city”.
A senior police official revealed that these children have different reasons to turn to the city, “Most of these children board trains without ticket and then reach railway stations in Delhi by default. All children belonged to the economically poor strata of society and almost all were school dropouts,” he said.
This year on Children’s day, 31 children were rescued in a span of 14 days from 1st November 2018 to 14th November 2018 by the Anti human trafficking unit of Crime Branch. Working with Sathi, an NGO (non-governmental organization) that works with runaway and lost children, Delhi Police Crime Branch was able to locate the parents of 17 of the rescued children. Crime Branch has been running an initiative called ‘Milaap’ to restore lost minor children with their families.
The rescued children were then produced before the Child Welfare Committee (CWC). “The committee being a quasi-judicial body is usually considered the last resort. We determine where the child should be sent on case to case basis,” said an official from the CWC.
Varun Pathak, an advocate from World for Equality and a member of National Railway Advisory Committee constituted by National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) said, “Either they have problems within the family, death of a parent, a step parent they don’t like, abandonment, poverty or other reasons ranging from them wanting to visit Delhi, or to get freedom and more. Slum children are in big numbers in Delhi, but a lot of them come from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, West Bengal, and Andhra Pradesh.”
“The children on reaching Delhi, if not rescued on time get into contact with other children living on the streets. These street children, in a way adopt new children into their group. They provide them with food and security and in most cases introduce them to drugs. Finally the child is pushed into picking trash. They scout for glass bottles and sell them. They spend most of their earnings on drugs and watching movies at old theaters which often show lewd movies. Slowly they start getting into petty crimes like snatching, stealing etc before moving into heinous crimes,” Pathak said.
“We often refer to the children as little adults. A lot of the children get used to staying on the streets and surviving is not easy so they mature faster. Drug and sexual abuse are a part of their daily lives. However, they value their freedom. In these cases, it’s hard to repatriate them”, Pathak added.
According to an official of the Child Welfare Committee (CWC), “No child mapping is conducted and there is no mechanism to figure out the children who are vulnerable to exploitation or could be ensnared by criminal gangs”.
A senior official from NCPCR told The Pioneer that along with the ministry of railways, Ministry for Women and Children, a guideline was developed in 2015 to tackle children who come in contact with railways. “We provide technical support, developed a capacity building program and conducted trainings for trainees in railways. An awareness campaign was also promoted,” the official added.
In a reality check conducted by The Pioneer, a member of NGO Salaam Baalak Trust revealed that working along with the GRP, they rescue around 3-4 children on daily basis. However, the member added that there were three NGO’s working in the station and they rescue similar number of children, if not more, everyday, as their working hours are different.
A GRP official at New Delhi Railway station said, “There are police personnel stationed specifically to lookout for children who suspiciously wander unaccompanied or shows signs of discomfort even when accompanied by an adult. Members from NGOs are also stationed at railway stations to take over the responsibility of the child and produce them before the CWC”.
“On a particular day, three children were brought to the New Delhi railway station . On being questioned, two of them revealed their parents phone numbers. Their parents were contacted. They were handed over to their parents after the legal process before the CWC was completed. The third child was allegedly abandoned by an ex-employee; he was taken to the shelter home and produced before CWC”, the police official added.
According to the Juvenile Justice Act, every child in the juvenile justice system shall have the right to be re-united with his family at the earliest and to be restored to the same socio-economic and cultural status that he was in, before coming under the purview of this Act, unless such restoration and repatriation is not in his/her best interest.
However, even after being restored to their parents, shelters or rehab centers, they often find the children they rescued back on the streets, said a member of Salaam Baalak Trust. “We cannot forcefully rehabilitate the children, if they do not wish to” he lamented.
