[ Tongam Rina ]
ITANAGAR, Aug 25: Four children between the ages of 8 and 12 have been rescued from Anini in Dibang Valley district.
The children, all Adivasi from a tea estate in Dibrugarh, Assam, were rescued following a joint effort by Childline Itanagar, the Child Welfare Committee (CWC), Itanagar, the police, and the protection officer (PO) of the Dibang Valley District Child Protection Unit.
On 21 August, an anonymous caller tipped off Childline Itanagar regarding trafficking of three children from Dibrugarh. Childline informed the CWC about it, and the CWC alerted the Dibang Valley PO and the police.
The PO, Omila Migi, said that during investigation, they found another child who had been trafficked by the same person.
Initial investigation revealed that one Nani Dili of Anini was contacted by the trafficker, offering child labourers in exchange of Rs 20,000.
“The children were brought to Anini by the trafficker after alluring them with a trip to Tinsukia,” Migi said.
He said the children are presently with him, and will be sent to Nani Maria Child Care Institute, Roing.
“Childline Dibrugarh has been informed about the case, and the children will be reunited with their parents by Monday,” informed CWC Itanagar chairperson Kani Nada Maling.
The police have identified the man who trafficked the children from Assam, and a complaint has been lodged at the Rohmoria police station.
In another case, an eight-year-old girl, who was trafficked from Guwahati to Itanagar, has been rescued from Bana in East Kameng district.
When contacted, the Seppa police station OC said that, with the help of gaon burahs and others, the child, who was working as a labourer in Bana, was handed over to Seppa police.
The police did not reveal the identity of the family with whom the child was working as a labourer.
Earlier, Assam Police officer Kangkan Mahanta, who is investigating the case, said one arrest has already been made. He said one of the accused confessed that the girl had been sold to a family in Itanagar.
Mahanta said a number of children from Assam’s tea gardens and other minority communities are being trafficked to Arunachal.
Maling agreed, and said there has been an alarming number of child-trafficking in the state, and that the onus is on the citizens to stop such criminal activities.
“Many people in the state have bought children who have been trafficked from tea gardens of Assam,” he informed.
(For any child related cases, contact Childline at 1098, a toll-free helpline. Your name and identity will be kept confidential.)
