Destitute parents abandon children in bus

By Our Staff Reporter

BANGALORE, MAY 22. The case of three-year-old Manoj and two-year- old Arshita, both abandoned by their parents and fortunately traced by Makkala Sahayavani, an agency working for destitute children, on Monday, is yet another testimony to the problems faced by children.

The two siblings travelled in a bus all day on May 18. Their parents -- Umesh and Latha, both daily wage workers -- had put them up in the bus at one of the bus-stops at Bannerghatta. The credulous children sat till 8 p.m in the bus, hoping for their parents to come.

Perhaps, they did not realise that they had been abandoned by their parents. Fortunately for them, a saviour took interest on these hapless children and on inquiry found a bus ticket on which was written: ``Dayavittu karune thorisi. Dayavittu nanna kshamisi. Ee makkalannu yaradaru kapadi. Nanna paristithi channagilla'' (Please show mercy. Please forgive me. Rescue these children. My condition is not good.)

On handing over the children to Makkala Sahayavanni, it was learnt that they were starving the whole day. The boy repeatedly asked for his parents and even refused to have food. They were, at last, sent to Vatsalya Charitable Trust, where they are being taken care of. But, the pitiful story of many such children never ends.

According to Makkala Sahayavani, 1,244 destitute children have been rescued so far. Of these, only 40 per cent were restored to their parents. The rest were taken care of by private institutions such as Vatsalya Charitable Trust.

The sahayavani records show many more pathetic cases where children are subjected to unfathomable pains. For instance, the 12-year-old Lakshmi (not her real name) from Kanchipuram was sent to work as a housemaid. She would wake up at 4.30 in the morning and retire only after midnight. On committing any mistake, the lady of the house would ask her to slap herself repeatedly.

The data highlights that about 70 per cent of these unfortunate children are girls. The parents relieve themselves of the girl babies at hospitals.

Further, most destitute girls are sexually harassed. A 13-year- old girl, who met with such a fate and was rescued later, had asked the police ``am I being involved in the trade again''. When the reply was ``no'', she grinned and said ``I don't think so.''

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Section  : Southern States
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