New Delhi: Eight children including four girls were rescued from six placement agencies in Shakurpur Basti area in North West Delhi on Tuesday. The kids were from Jharkhand, Bihar and Chhattisgarh.
According to an NGO, the operation was led by the Saraswati Vihar sub-divisional magistrate (SDM), Delhi Police, labour department and an NGO. Raids were conducted on six placement agencies which had employed the children, including the four girls, for jobs as domestic help.
The kids aged between 13 and 16 years. The other rescued children were from Bihar and Chhattisgarh. Five other women (above the age of 18) were also rescued in the raid operation.
The four girls were from different villages of Pakur, Sahebganj and West Singbhum districts of Jharkhand. Most of the placement agencies that were targeted in raid allegedly operated without valid documentation.
"While the police are on the look-out for the owners of these placement agencies, legal action has been initiated against them," one of the rescuers claimed.
According to statements made before SDM, the girls were allegedly trafficked from Jharkhand and were working for two years without being paid wages.
They lived in poor conditions with as many as 10 persons, including the girls and older men, to a room. It is being ascertained whether the girls were subjected to ill-treatment or other kinds of harassment or abuse.