5 Odisha girls rescued from Kovai textile unit

The children were identified as Maliki Rival (16), Basanti Pradhan (16), Tarulata Pradhan (17), Saraswathi Pradhan (17) and Kanchana Pradhan (16) and they were from the Raikia area of Kandhamal district in Odisha. A police inspector from Raikia station who came here to rescue the girls said that they received a complaint from Meenahi Rival, mother of Maliki Rival, and was probing the matter. “During inquiry we came to know that they were trafficked and employed in a textile industry in Coimbatore district,” the inspector said. 

The Odisha police told reporters here that the girls were treated like slaves. “We have secured a woman by name Lina Pradal in connection with this case for allegedly picking the children from Odisha tempting them with promise of giving them money and then selling them to the owner of the company here. We are on the lookout for Bhulita Swain (another woman) involved in this. She has been absconding,” the officer said. However, the Odisha police did not intimate the Labour Department or the National Child Labour Project officials here about the enslavement of the minor girls. An NCLP official here said that they have informed their higher ups about it and would be inspecting the industry that employed the girls early next week.