MANGALURU: Nine children, that included a two-month-old baby up to children aged seven, were rescued from Polali in a joint operation conducted by Childline-1098, Dakshina Kannada, District Child Protection Unit and the child development and protection officer on Friday.
The children, otherwise found begging on the streets of Mangaluru, had shifted their base to Polali, due to the ongoing annual festival of the Sri Rajarajeshwari temple.
Deekshith Achrappady, centre coordinator, Childline, told TOI the rescued children were produced before the Child Welfare Committee. Out of the children rescued, five are boys.
“Once the lockdown was lifted, and the public transport system was restored, many children who are into begging, who speak in Hindi, are found on the streets of Mangaluru. Some of them can be seen selling balloons. Also, since they are Hindi-speaking, many of them skip going to school here,” he said.
Deekshith suspects a racket to be operating in the city, as most of the children rescued are from Rajasthan. They stay with their parents in a lodge that is probably arranged for them by an agent. Two groups are active in Mangaluru with at least 10 families. The mothers of the children too seem to be minors.
For seven days a week, they have a fixed area of operation, and they are often found outside prominent places of worship. In the late evening, many of them are seen outside a famous ice cream parlour near Lalbagh. We intend to ensure they lead a better life, Deekshith said.