They hid in a graveyard: ‘Beaten and made to work up to 18 hours’, seven children from Bihar escape Jaipur bangle factory

“These children were brought to Jaipur from their villages in Bihar two months ago on the pretext of a trip. Here, they were made to work 15-18 hours a day in difficult conditions, and they finally escaped on Monday night but got lost in the congested lanes of Bhatta Basti and hid in the graveyard,” Station House Officer Deepak Tyagi told The Indian Express.

The children initially refused to talk, but later revealed that one Samsad Miya had brought them to Jaipur, police said. He has been booked under the Juvenile Justice Act and taken into police custody.

The children alleged that they were treated inhumanely — given only one meal a day, and subjected to beatings if they fell sick while being made to work up to 18 hours a day.

The issue of child labour in Jaipur’s bangle factories is decades old, and there have been several raids on such factories over the years.

According to police, owners look to use child labour because children have hands that are small enough to do intricate work on glass bangles, and they can be made to work for half the wages paid to an adult.

Vivek Sharma, the director of Aasra Foundation Jaipur — a non-profit that has provided legal aid to children who find themselves in such situations — told The Indian Express that most of these children are brought from Bihar.

“Bangle factory owners in Jaipur traffic these children from Bihar for a few thousand rupees… Every year, around 4,000 children are brought to Jaipur to work in bangle factories, but only 20% are rescued. We have seen cases where children’s feet were cut with blades to prevent them from escaping. Many children had severe spinal injuries due to working for long hours without a break. It is important for the governments of both Rajasthan and Bihar to come up with a solution to this widespread issue,” said Sharma.