Anti child labour day: Rich employ child housemaids

KANNUR: “The notion about the progressiveness of Malayalees would crumble once we come to know that how these educated, affluent, young men employ 9-year-old girls as housemaids,” fumes an official of social justice department in Kannur. Earlier it was Kasargod which had the notoriety for exploiting children as domestic help following the 2008 gruesome murder of 14-year-old Safiya in the flat owned by a Kasargod native in Goa. Now, the same is being expanded to Kannur if the recent news is any indicator.

Seven girls in the age group of 9-16 were rescued from child labour in Kannur since January this year. They include five Andhra Pradesh girls, rescued from four households at Aniyaram near Panur on June 14. Subsequently, police held five more persons involved in the child trafficking including four women. Chokli police held the chief agent of the child trafficking, Shareef, 50, from Thiruvallur district of Tamil Nadu on Friday.

“Places including Panur, Kadavathur, Aniyaram, Kaivelikkal, Poilur, Champad, Mundothparambu are infamous for abusing children as domestic help. Many cases are under wraps as the children are held in palatial houses having no connection with the outer world,” says Maneesh E., general secretary of the Janakeeya Samithi, a Kannur-based NGO.

It was following the complaint of Samiti, KELSA (Kerala State Legal Services Authority) sent District Legal Service Authority secretary Sub-Judge Jayarajan M.P. to inquire the matter last month. His visit exposed the gravity of the situation.

“I found several girls, including those from far off Jharkhand working as domestic help. All of the houses are that of well-being people with NRIs and those doing business out of the state,” he told DC. Though locals allege children are sexually abused, no evidence had surfaced so far. However, authorities are waiting for their medical examination.

“It is not that these people are unaware of the child labour, nor there are healthy members of the family to do the house chores. It’s the arrogance of wealth. They might have an impression that money would erase all kinds of illegalities,” said T.A. Mathew Thelliyil, who heads Child Welfare Committee (CWC) in Kannur. “The government should form a special task force to probe it in detail. A routine inquiry would not end this menace as it is deeply rooted involving many agents and sub-agents spread across many states,” he warns.

‘I haven’t been out in 2 years’

 

“I haven’t seen outside the gate of the house for two years,” wept an 11-year old girl rescued by the district child protection staff. She was made to clean the floor and wash the staircase beside routine kitchen chores. The children told them that they were beaten up for laxity in work. One of the girls had bruises on her lips as she was hit with sandals on the face.

Ten months back, another 11-year-old girl ran away from a house in Panur police limits unable to bear the torture. She was handed over to police by locals, and the incident prompted people to approach district legal service authority to probe.
“All of the rescued children have the opinion that they were not given good food. A 16-year old girl said she had been in Kerala for six years and the last six months were in Kannur,” said T.A. Mathew Thelliyil, CWC chairperson.

“Places such as ‘Kadavathur’ are known as a mini-Gulf. Enormous wealth has contributed the trend to employ children as domestic help. These houses are cut from the outer world. How come people knew about the happenings in a swanky bungalow protected by huge compound walls,” asks a retired teacher in Panur, who requested anonymity. “Steps should be initiated for the repatriation of these children. Details of them should be uploaded onto the website, trackthemissingchild.gov.in,” stated M. Anju Mohan, district child protection officer (DCPO).

Interstate trafficking network extensive

 

The probe into the case of children abused as domestic help has unearthed an extensive interstate child trafficking network. Agents are exploiting the poverty of families and recruiting children from Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
“It is an entrenched racket with agencies and sub-agencies at various levels. There are instances of repatriated children again entering the business because of the poor conditions back home,” says E.V. Shibu, a sub-inspector at Chokli station.

The arrest of Shareef, the chief agent of the racket, made to know that each child has been charged between Rs 100,000 and Rs 150,000 a year. But the family will get only 30 percent of the amount. If there are any danger signs, agents will act swiftly to take them away. Also, they take precaution to change the children once in six months.

“It's hard to find out the children once they get into houses. The five children were able to be rescued as Childline workers visited all the five houses at the same time,” said Joble Jose, Kannur district Childline coordinator. Sections 75, 79 of Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act  2015 and IPC 1860 have been slapped on Raheem Kandoth, Noushad Kandoth, Hafez Kandoth, Azeez and Nazar for employing the children at their houses.

Of this, only Azeez has been arrested. Responding to the situation, Kannur district child protection unit (DCPO) will be conducting an awareness class for residents of Panur on June 12 with the support of CWC, Childline and district labour office.