Seven children rescued from Ernakulam South station in a week

Seven children were rescued from the Ernakulam South railway station by law enforcers, in collaboration with the child helpline unit, in a week, officials said on Wednesday. Six of them, including two toddlers, are from other States, while a girl is from Kollam district.

While the teenagers were found unaccompanied by parents or guardians, the toddlers, a girl aged around two and a one-year-old boy, were found with a woman believed to be their mother, who appeared mentally unstable, officials said. The woman and the children were found onboard the Guruvayur-Ernakulam passenger train on Monday (February 2). They were taken into custody by the Railway Protection Force (RPF) as the woman was found to be unfit to take care of the children. The trio were produced before the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) and sent to a shelter home.

A 13-year-old boy and a 14-year-old girl from Jharkhand, found unsafe onboard the Dhanbad-Alappuzha Express, were rescued by the RPF on Monday. In a similar instance earlier in the week, a girl and a boy, who claimed to be from Odisha, were also rescued by the force. “The children from Odisha said they came in search of jobs at a cardamom plantation. Investigations are under way to find details of their whereabouts and if any child traffickers were involved in their travel,” an RPF officer said.

All the rescued teenagers were sent to the CWC, while the Kollam girl, who allegedly left home in search of a friend who she met online, was sent away with her parents. She was rescued by the Government Railway Police at the South station.

The RPF has been conducting intensive checks onboard trains and at stations as part of its nationwide Operation AAHT (Action Against Human Trafficking), focussing on rescuing women and children from traffickers.