Three more children who had been separated from their families for eight to nine years have been reunited with their parents in Maharashtra by Navi Mumbai Anti-Human Trafficking cell (AHTC).
Three more children who had been separated from their families for eight to nine years have been reunited with their parents in Maharashtra by Navi Mumbai Anti-Human Trafficking cell (AHTC). The children, identified as Shweta (name changed), Rohit and Aanad, had been living in hostels at Raigad and Panvel for many years and did not even know that their parents are alive.
“These children were first living in a hostel at Chambharli village in Raigad. However, they were sexually assaulted by their hostel owner several times after which, the sex scandal was exposed by a social worker. They were shifted to another hostel in Panvel where they have been living for the past four years,” said an AHTC officer.
Twelve-year-old Shweta’s father was convicted in a robbery case in 2006 and sent to jail for six months. “After her father was sent to jail, her mother died of heart attack. Shweta was just two years’ old at the time. Relatives left her on the road and one of the beggars there took her to Raigad Hostel. The hostel owner raped her when she was 8 years’ old.
AHTC PI Pushplata Dighe said, “We received all information from the previous hostel administration. We started searching for the beggar. We met him after 15 days of continuous searching. Fortunately, he remembered the incident and narrated the story to us and also gave us the name of the area from where they come. We then met Shweta’s father and told him about his daughter. Shweta’s father never remarried after coming out of jail and thought that his entire family had died. After he heard about his daughter though, he was very happy. We arranged a meeting between them. We produced them in front of the CWC (Child Welfare Commission). They have given us permission to send the daughter to her father’s custody after DNA tests.”
Among the others, Rohit, was abducted by his mother when he was 4 years’ old. His grandmother used to take care of him but after she was admitted to hospital for some reason, his mother gave him to a eunuch, who handed him over to Raigad hostel. He met his grandmother after nine years. All three children are now very happy after being reunited with their families.
