Close on the heels of Operation Smile,
wherein 200 child labourers were rescued from the Old City, child rights
protection officials conducted a raid at a plush gated colony, Whisper
Valley, on Sunday and rescued three children working as domestic help.
“It has become a common practice for
private agencies to pick up children, especially girls, from backward
states like Jharkahand, Bihar and Orissa and deploy them to Hyderabad,”
Achyuta Rao, member of SCPCR told CityTAB. A Class II dropout, Baruva
was picked up by Ranchi Jharkhand Placement Centre and Vishwari
Placement Services and was deployed to work for one, A Krishna Kiran.
Baruva admitted that her employer had
branded her with cigarettes and iron rods, showing her hands and feet as
evidence. “Surprisingly, Khairatabad MLA Chintala Ramachandra Reddy
threatened SCPCR officials with dire consequences if the rescued
children weren’t sent back to their employers immediately,” Rao said.
Lamenting the move, Rao said that they will bring the issue to the
notice of BJP state president G Kishan Reddy. They are also planning to
conduct a special drive as 50 more children are said to be working in
the same locality. They will mount pressure on the employers.