Rajasthan family camps in Kottayam collectorate premises seeking release of children from CWC

Kottayam: Street vendors from Rajasthan are helpless after the authorities did not consider releasing their children who were taken by the Child Welfare Committee (CWC). The District Child Welfare Committee had taken over two migrant boys from Kumarakom. According to reports, the two children belong to the group of Rajasthan natives. Responding to the request of the vendors from Rajasthan, CWC asserted that the children would not be released without completing legal procedures. 

Following this, the nine-member family of Rajasthanis including children camped in the Kottayam Collectorate premises for two days waiting for the mercy of the authorities. 

Three families from the Ajmer and Bhilwara districts of Rajasthan came to Illikkal here to sell pottery. Someone informed the police that a few children are engaged in head loading pottery and selling it. Kumarakom police registered a case under the child labour act and two men in the group were arrested.

The Child Protection Committee intervened in the case and sent two boys, aged 10 and 11, to the shelter home. An eight-month-old baby and a woman were moved to Mahila Mandiram. Later, the two men obtained bail with the help of a lawyer. The woman and her baby were also released from the Mahila Mandiram on Wednesday. 

When the Rajasthan family approached the magistrate court seeking the release of the boys, it directed the officials to examine the case and take action. With this order, the parents are staying at the Collectorate premises even during the night.

The parents claimed that they have shown their Aadhaar cards to the officials to release their children. But the officials are not ready to accept their request.
 

Meanwhile, police also seized the lorry in which the family headed to Kerala. All their essential items are in the lorry. 

" At least four more days will be taken for the relatives to arrive with the documents to prove their relationship with the children. Where do we go without releasing the children?. We don't have any place to sleep. The kids should be released immediately” said one of the Rajasthan natives.

The Child Welfare Committee claimed that these migrants do not have any documents to prove that they are the parents of the children. The magistrate court did not order the children to be released. It is only the copy of the instruction given to the Kumarakom police to consider their complaint.

It is not safe to release children without checking the documents. We have already contacted the Child Protection Committees and District Collectors of Ajmer and Bhilwara districts. We need to know if the Rajasthan address in these documents is correct. Once the investigation report is available, further steps will be taken, said CWC.