Ten children from Rautahat who had been rescued from the Indian city of Raxaul while being taken to Mumbai for manual labour were handed over to their families today.

According to Development Nepal, an organisation involved in the rescue of the children, they have been handed over to their respective families after they were rescued from Raxaul train station on Saturday. All the children range between 11 to 15 years of age.

Among the rescued are Mahaman Aslam, 15, of Karuniyan, Shesh Habir Husen, 12, of Bhagawanpur, Ram Kisan Mahato, 15, Arbinda Kumar, 10, of Santapur and Irshad Alam, 14, of Bhairawa.

“They were heading to Mumbai with an elderly woman to work in a bag factory when we rescued them,“ said Sandip Singh Thakuri, DN Programme Coordinator. According to the organisation, the chil dren were heading to the Indian city for labour with the approval of their parents.

Meanwhile, father of the rescued child Shesh Habir said he was compelled to send his child to India for employment owing to poverty.

“As I have lost my eyesight five years ago and poor financial condition, I had to send him to work,” said father Shesh Sattar.

Published on: 4 December 2012 | The Himalayan Times