Child Begging Mafia Puts Infants ‘On the Job’ During Immersion Procession

Hyderabad: In what was a heart-wrenching sight during the Ganesh idol immersion, many children dressed as Mahatma Gandhi and other mythical characters, were moving around the procession and begging. Even infants with silver paint all over their body braved the hot temperature and smoke emanating from vehicles, reflecting the darker side of the society.

During the Ganesh immersion child begging mafia brings children from all over the city. Ironically, parents and guardians monitor the earnings of ‘their’ kids. By-passers seeing the children, most of them frail and in near fainting stage, gave them money for their food. The begging activities went unchecked. Many people wondered where were those who carry out operation muskan and conduct raids to rescue children from units employing child labour.

Arti Rathi from Lathur, Maharashtra, said “I was there to watch the Ganesh immersion from Abids till the Secretariat. Amid the joyous celebration, it was painful to see the infants who are made to beg. I saw some of them faint. I can’t understand how heartless people can be to push such small children into begging.”

Tanguturu Radhika Reddy, founder of Radhika Charitable Trust, said, “The authorities and police have enough information about kids being brought to the city only for begging purposes. This is happening right in the open and before thousands of people. The authorities should intervene and stop such inhuman exploitation of children beforehand instead of waiting till the end to take action.”