149 rescued from shackles of child labour in Mumbai

The Mumbai police on Sunday marked the end of its special drive to detect cases of child labour in the city. The week-long drive was part of the World Day Against Child Labour that falls on June 12. The officials were able to rescue 149 children from various establishments in the city where they were employed as labourers.

The drive began on June 6, and for the first time, police stations were given instructions to report, investigate child labour and child begging cases. The Juvenile Aid and Protection Unit (JAPU) previously handled the matter. “The police stations will now handle all the cases related to child labour,” said an officer.

“The officials with JAPU will only help them in special cases. This move is aimed at reducing the burden on JAPU and also to make the detection of such cases more area centric,”the officer further added.

“Officers from 91 police stations were sensitised and trained regarding issues pertaining to children especially child trafficking,” said an officer. “They were trained how to talk to children who are victims in such cases and how to go about rescuing them,” he added.

The police also conducted awareness campaigns at various locations regarding child labour. Due to this drive, the police was able to rescue nearly 149 children. “This number is set to increase as the week ends on Sunday night and we still have teams conducting operations,” said an officer from JAPU. Officials informed that in the last six days the police has registered 91 cases against various offenders.

“We have also arrested 91 people and have booked them under relevant sections of the Juvenile Justice Act,” he added.