Hyderabad: Almost 93 per cent of street children in Hyderabad face a threat to their lives while around 14 per cent have been sexually abused, a report revealed.
According to the report by NGO Save the Children and Price Waterhouse Coopers, there are around 10,000 street children in Hyderabad. Among the street children interviewed by the NGO in the city, about 20 per cent faced harassment from the police and shockingly about 33 per cent had their meagre belongings stolen. Another 38 per cent felt a threat to their life.
The report says hardly any measures are taken to protect street children. “The physical and sexual abuse faced by children on the streets indicate that the safety nets for protecting them are hopelessly inadequate,” the report said.
Shockingly, Secunderabad, Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam railway stations have the highest inflow of such children in the country after railway stations in New Delhi. These children don’t have documents to access government services.
“Our report shows how urban children across India are becoming increasingly vulnerable. We urge policy makers to take these suggestions while they plan 100 smart cities in the country,” Save the Children chairman Harpal Singh said.
Interestingly, a huge proportion of the street children ended up on the streets along with their families while about 14 per cent ended up on the streets due to poverty.
Half the street children don’t have any place for shelter at night. More than 8 million children live in urban slums which is more than the population of the five northeastern states.
