A 15-year-old girl, whom ChildLine rescued on Tuesday after responding to her distress call, was reportedly handed back to her parents by District Collector S. Malarvizhi.
According to ChildLine sources, the staff who rescued the girl allegedly received threats from her relative Kumaresan, a lawyer and a functionary of the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi. Later, as the girl was about to be taken to the Child Welfare Committee, the Collector called them up and asked for the girl to be brought to the Collectorate.
At the Collectorate, the girl was sent back with her family by the Collector herself. Human Rights activist Henri Tiphagne of People’s Watch said, “The CWC is bound to alert the SCPCR (State Commission for the Protection of Child Rights) of the Collector’s interference.”