Enslaved orphans freed

Laxmi (13), Saraswati (11) and Durga (9) were illegally taken out of an orphanage (TOI Photo)MUMBAI: The three orphaned girls from Malvani who have been in the clutches of their neighbour E Radhamani for the last three months were rescued on Saturday after TOI front-paged a story on the plight of the sisters. Radhamani has been arrested and charged with several violations of the law.
On Saturday morning, the Malavani police station was crawling with officials. Assistant labour commissioner Shailendra Pol and DCP Sanjay Mohite with their teams as well as additional cops from the Malvani station descended on Ankita Chawl and rescued Laxmi (13), Saraswati (11) and Devi (9). Mohite heads the enforcement branch of the Mumbai police which handles the social service wing.
An FIR against Radhamani was filed by Vishwas Jadhav from the Child Labour Cell of the Labour Commissioner���s Office after the statements of all three girls were recorded.
Radhamani, who runs an eatery, has been charged under the Child Labour Prohibition and Regulation Act, the Juvenile Justice Act for allegedly confining the three girls and the Indian Penal Code for alleged cruelty.
If convicted, she could spend up to three years��� in jail and pay a minimum fine of Rs 10,000 per child. The fate of the girls will be decided by the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) later this week.
Also read: Orphaned kids made to slave in eatery