A 22-year-old youth, who was rescued from child labour here a few years ago, was reunited with his parents from Dharmapuri recently.
T.Meghanathan and his brother Sarath Kumar were rescued from child labour in 2012 by Childline and the police here. According to officials, Meghanathan’s father Thangaraja from Dharmapuri had taken a loan of ₹40,000 from a private financier in Mettur and he could not repay the loan. The financier took the boys for work at the klin in return of the money.
Based on a tip off, Childline and the police rescued the boys who were later produced before the Child Welfare Committee and provided shelter at Don Bosco Anbu Illam here.
Meghanathan after completing studies at ITI continued to work at the Illam while his brother dropped out of school in class 9 and works as a driver in Tiruppur.
Meghanathan recently visited Dharmapuri along with his colleague who hailed from the same district. He enquired about his family with the local people and managed to trace his parents. Meghanathan was reunited with his parents Thangaraja and Vijaya at an event held at the Illam recently.
Uma Maheswari, District Child Protection Officer, Dass, Chairperson, Child Welfare Committee, and Casimir Raj, Director, DBAI, Salem, were present.