An 11-year-old boy from Assam’s Dhubri district, who was mortgaged by his father to a brick factory in Nepal, has been rescued and taken to his home town.
According to information, the boy, who is the son of Ismail Sk, a resident of Dubachuri village part 1 under Bilasipra police station of Dhubri district, was mortgaged by his father to the proprietor of a Nepal-based bricks factory located at Rajbiraj under Saptari district of Nepal about nine months back.
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A four-member team led by the District Child Protection Officer (DCPO) of Dhubri took possession of the boy from a Nepal-based NGO – Voice of Child on June 2.
Kishori Barua, DCPO, Dhubri told Northeast Now, “Raju Nepali, director of Duars EXPRESSmail, an NGO, working on human trafficking and child labour in Darjeeling of West Bengal informed us that a minor child was under the custody of the proprietor of a brick factory located in Nepal since the last couple of months.”
“And, acting on the specific input, we approached the ministry of home affairs, government of Nepal and shared the information provided by Raju Nepali and finally, on the direction of the Nepal government, the district administration of Saptari district rescued the child on May 7, 2019 from the grip of Ratan Kilns & Bricks Factory located in Nepal,” added Barua.
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The rescued boy has revealed the horrific details of mental and physical torture at the hands of his employers.
The boy told the counsellors that he was mortgaged by his father with prospects of job and sold at Rs 3 lakh of Nepali currency.
Sabina Begum, chairperson of Child Welfare Committee (CWC), Dhubri, who has been closely monitoring the case, told Northeast Now that the tip-off was received last month.
“We are shocked to know that the rescued boy was sold by his own father Ismail Sk, who is a contract labour supplier to different bricks factories,” added Begum.
In this particular case, it has come to light that the accused, Ismail Sk, had allegedly made a promise to the proprietor to the Nepal-based brick factory to provide a good number of brick labourers and collected a huge amount from him and mortgaged his 11-year-old child as a guarantee against the money received.
“The rescued boy has been sent to Saya Child Home, located at Falimari of Dhubri district for further course of action and the police have been informed for taking necessary action against the alleged accused (father of the rescued boy),” said Begum.