The Hindu : Racket that thrives on children

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Dec 13, 2002

Southern States

Southern States - Kerala-Thiruvananthapuram

Racket that thrives on children

By T. Nandakumar

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, Dec. 12. The sordid episode of a three-year-old child who was abandoned at the Child Welfare Council with injuries has focussed attention on the abuse of children by inter-State begging rackets operating in the city. A nomadic woman who later claimed the child as her own had no clear explanation as to how the girl had sustained injuries.

According to social workers, organised begging involving street children is quite common in the city. The dons operate from neighbouring States to escape the police dragnet. Some of the children are physically mutilated before being initiated into begging. Most of them are also involved in the sex trade.

A number of the children end up on the streets after being hounded out from wrecked families, while others are abducted from home to work for begging rackets. Nomadic families which live by begging use their own children as easy bait. Social workers say that a large number of these families are from Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

The children are often left to brave the scorching sun while begging for alms. In some cases, they are accompanied by their mothers or older children. Social workers have come across cases where children who are rescued are claimed by nomads as their own. "There are incidents in which the claimants disappear on being questioned. In such cases, it is clear that the children were abducted. But even abducted children are known to develop a strong bond with their captors over a period of time,'' says Father Philip who manages Childline, a city- based helpline for street children.

A sizeable number of children used by begging rackets are employed in inter-city trains where they distribute printed coupons or belt out film songs to appeal to the commuters. Some of them even display their physical mutilations. A day's collection could be as high as Rs. 500 to Rs.1,000 for these children. The returns are handed over to the leader who manages the racket or his representative.

But in the case of families which live on the streets, the use of children for begging is part of life. "In the absence of a value system or a sense of right or wrong, it carries no stigma and hence is an acceptable practice for them,'' says Fr. Philip.

Street children who constitute one of the most vulnerable segments are utilised for begging, drug peddling and pick-pocketing by organised rackets. They also become victims of sexual abuse. Many girls become unwed mothers at an early age. A survey carried out by an NGO revealed that about 70 per cent of the street children are hooked to drugs or alcohol.

The older children also work as rag-pickers, though most of the returns go towards buying ganja, cigarettes and tickets for movies. During religious festivals, they line up before temples, churches or mosques.

Easy prey for drug barons and prostitutes, these children are lured into the drug trade or forced into pimping. Many are addicts themselves, sniffing glue or puffing ganja beedis. Injured or diseased street children are often taken to hospital by social workers but run away as soon as they recover.

Fr. Philip advocates a rehabilitation network involving the families and collective groups involved in begging.

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