A VOICE against Child Abuse & Labour

When? 4th January 2010, 11 am- 1:00 pm

Where? Front of owner house, Somasundrapalya, HSR layout, Bangalore

Who? NGOs, Children, Staff, Volunteers, MSW Students, Police officials
Why? To seek justice for Durga

CHILDLINE initiated the protest with regard to the case of Durga, the 15 yrs old domestic labour sexually exploited by the owner. This protest was organised by the support of CACLK (Campaign Against Child Labour), Bridge network, NGO Forum.

VOICE FOR?
“Callous owner poured burning oil on me and even made me to stand nude at home and taken photos. I was physically and mentally tortured” says Durga sobbingly, the victim of the case. She’s the 15 yrs old domestic labour hailing from Kolkata who was working for a year in the house of Vallab Chakravarthy, Sinchitha and their 3-year old child.
Durga was worked constantly and was rewarded with starvation, physically and sexual abuse from the couple. She was punched on her eyes and beaten with a chapathi roller. And there were scars all over her body when CHILDLINE, APSA came to her rescue as soon as they were called on 1098.

VOICE RAISED
Everybody assembled near the HSR Layout and the various voices heard in the march were:

‘ protect child rights’ ‘take action against the culprit’
‘we need justice’ ‘give justice to Durga’
‘Down Down cuprit couples’ ‘hai shamless culprit’
‘sab log ache sinchitha valle luchhe’ ‘We want justice’ …etc

VOICES HEARD
Mr Naga Simha, Convenor CACL-K Bangalore Chapter discussed four basic rights and how all of them were violated by the employer in this case. Subsequently Mr. Lakshapathy, Director of APSA, CHILDLINE elaborated on violation of the rights and how society should respond when they see any of these atrocities in their vicinity. How CHILDLINE rescue works, What are basic Child Rights and How they can call 1098 from anywhere, toll free rather than waiting others to respond.

VOICES PROMISED
The people were empathetic, and promised that they will call CHILDLINE 1098 if they find any violation of child rights. They admitted that earlier they were not aware of any action point or the fact that they could inform at a service/number. Especially people from HSR layout agreed to provide full support in Durga’s battle for justice.