Child trafficking: NHRC issues notices to Kerala, Jharkhand

NHRC today issued notices to authorities in Jharkhand and Kerala seeking detailed report on the alleged trafficking of children for orphanages.

According to a statement issued by National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), the notices were served to the Chief Secretaries and Directors General of Police of Jharkhand and Kerala asking them to submite their reports within four weeks. The notices were issued after the Commission took cognisance of a media report which said that Jharkhand Labour Department officials has confirmed reports of trafficking of over 500 children to Kerala from the eastern states of Jharkhand, West Bengal and Bihar.

As per the media report, the racket was busted by the Railway Police when the children arrived at Palakkad Railway Station and the adults who accompanied them were found not having any valid documents for taking the children from their home state.

Reportedly, eight persons have been arrested in this connection. The arrested persons were booked under the Juvenile Justice Act and remanded to judicial custody. The Commission has observed that the contents of the press report, if true, amounts to serious violation of human rights of the children involved.