Members of Child Welfare Committee and Juvenile Justice Board rescued six child labourers working in a hotel opposite Sri Chamarjendra Zoological Gardens in the city on Thursday.
Upon receiving information that there were child labourers at the Mysore Refreshment Hotel here, the district child protection cell, in a joint operation with the special police for children raided the hotel and found eight child labourers and rescued them. While two were said to be above 18 years, six were found to be juveniles, all hailing from Mysore taluk.
Verbal duel
As soon as the news of the raid on the hotel spread, leaders of various organisations gathered at the spot. They opposed the raid and alleged that no notices were served to the hotel. Heated arguments prevailed between the members of the rescue team and those of the organisation.
The organisation contended that the law stipulated that only children below 14 years of age should not be employed, and that all the eight labourers rescued were above 14 years.
Juvenile Justice Board member B Baburaj and Child Welfare Committee member Nalini said that according to Juvenile Justice Act, 2010, those below 18 years were considered juvenile and that it was a crime to employ them.
Ironically, the labour inspectors who arrived at the time of rescue operation were not aware of the JJ Act of 2010, which led to further chaos. However, Nazarbad police intervened and brought the situation under control.
The rescued children were taken to the observation home at Vivekanandanagar under police protection. They would be produced before the Child Welfare Committee for inquiry, said Baburaj.
(Published 21 March 2013, 18:49 IST)
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