HYDERABAD: Over 20 children from Odisha were rescued on Friday by Cyberabad Smile Team. These children had been working at a brick kiln in Kacharam village of Shamshabad, where they were making bricks and drying them.
Of the 20 rescued, 16 were girls and 4 were boys. All of them were under the age of 14. The older children were found to be manually making bricks while the younger ones, as young as 7 years of age, were seen drying them.
Shamshabad police has booked cases under Section 14 of the Child Labour Act, 79 JJ act, 374 IPC.According to officials, the children had been working there for over 6 months without being linked to the school or an anganwadi, as mandated by law.
“Their parents had received an advance of `30,000 and were bonded to work here. Despite this,the owner of the kiln did not hire a teacher to educate these children,” noted Devendra Charry, District Child Protection Officer, Rangareddy.