Naga Children Handed Over to Parents

Silchar, Feb 23 : The Haflong child welfare committee today officially handed over 24 children belonging to the Naga community to their respective parents at Lodhi basti near Haflong. The 24 children were recovered from an unauthorized orphanage in Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu recently.

Apart from the 24 children belonging to NC Hills, 54 more children from Manipur were also recovered from Swaranalayam Home, an orphanage in Kanyakumari, with the help of the Tamil Nadu child welfare committee during the beginning of the month of February.

The children were later escorted to Haflong last Friday and were kept in custody of the Haflong child welfare committee.

Sources said these 24 children, all belonging to Naga community, were taken to Kanyakumari by an unidentified racket assuring their parents that they would be properly educated in the home.

But it was reported that the children, aged between four to 13, were forced to do all sort of nasty works, poorly fed and were physically assaulted.

Their plight came to light when Elele, mother of eight-year old Alfred who was taken to the home, visited Swaranalayam Home in Kanyakumari to meet her son but was denied by the members working at the orphanage.

Elele later approached the Tamil Nadu child welfare committee which, with the help of local police, conducted a raid on the Home and rescued the helpless children.

Later, Haflong Child Development Project officer Karendra Warisa went to Kanyakumari to receive the children and escorted them back to NC Hills. The racket which took the children to Kanyakumari is yet to be identified.