CHENNAI: Five boys from Bihar, aged between 12 and 14 years, have been rescued from an unauthorised bag manufacturing unit operating in a house near the Seven Wells police station.
Acting on a tip-off, a team from the labour department conducted a surprise inspection at a house in the densely populated Seven Wells area on June 1 and found a group of 10 to 15 young boys and adults working in bag manufacturing units.
“We acted upon specific information provided to the child helpline that young boys were working on the first and second floors of a house on Amman Kovil Street in Seven Wells. The information was found to be genuine,” said a labour department official.
The units neither had a name board nor were registered with the concerned authority, the official said, adding that one of the rescued boys was around 12 years old, while the other four were between 14 and 16 years old.
Mohammed Shakil and another person, who were natives of Bihar, brought the boys from Sitamarhi district of their state to work in their units. They made the boys work for long hours and did not allow them to step out of the house all these months.
“Though two of the boys claimed that Shakil is their father, there is no evidence to prove their relationship. Hence, we have shifted them to a government reception home. They had been working for more than six months in these facilities,” said the labour department official.
Following a complaint from the labour department official, the police have registered a case under the provisions of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) Act and the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act against their employers.