11-year-old escapes from traffickers in Mumbai, recalls his horrifying ordeal

11-year-old Roshan returned home four months after he was kidnapped by child traffickers from his home in Noida. Two kids were kidnapped from Noida, but Roshan managed to escape from the clutches of child traffickers in Mumbai and return home on May 5.

On January 10, Roshan was playing a little away from his home in Harijan Basti in sector-37 with his friend Vishal. As dusk was falling, one of the kidnappers started having conversation with the kids and then suddenly a black car came and another man held a piece of cloth laced with anesthesia on their nose. When they woke up, they were in Mumbai.

Speaking with iamin, Roshan recalled, “When I woke up, I found myself in the company of hundreds of other children like me sitting quietly, scared. Then some people came and thrashed me and my friend brutally and later gave us two chapattis with salt to eat,” said Roshan.

Roshan said that the kids of his age were kidnapped in order to be employed as beggars and cleaners at the railway stations across Mumbai.

“We were thrashed to appear bedraggled, and forced to beg on trains, signals and some would be forced to clean the trains as well. Moreover, they would not give us food regularly, and our every day one time meal would be just two chapattis and salt,” Roshan told police that this was done to make them actually look weak and needy.

The places where kids used to beg were juggled every day. “They would not take us to the same place every day. One day we would be taken to bus stand, the next day railway stations, then traffic signals, where we would either beg or clean,” he said

Running away from the gang was not an option for the kids, as the kidnappers would monitor the children at work by mixing in the crowd. If someone would try doing that, the consequences of that would be dreadful.

“They would always keep a watch on us. If they found you seeking help from a commuter or passerby, then they would beat you with an iron rod at night. They would starve you for days and then those bruises will be left open to get sympathy of people while begging.”

After months of working at the railway station, the boy started keeping track of train to New Delhi, and plotted his escape plan from the hell he was into.

“While I was cleaning on Sunday night, I secretly somehow escaped from there and reached Thane Station and boarded the train at around 1:30am and traveled hiding in the general compartment.”

He reached Delhi on Tuesday morning and then boarded a bus to Noida and reached home where he met his uncle who took him to the police station. Moreover, Roshan’s uncle claims that the day Roshan was kidnapped with his friend, same day two more children were abducted from the village.

With the return of Vishal and the anecdotes he has shared with the police, a new ray of hope has been given to other parents whose children have gone missing. In Noida, there are about more than 150 missing children in the last two years.

Meanwhile, two teams of police including Anti-Human Trafficking Cell unit have started investigations and searches with the help of Roshan to get the whereabouts of the gang.

For the longer version of the report. click here