Shocking! Kids made to clean septic tank at orphanage in Hyderabad

HYDERABAD: A video of a girl inmate of an Uppal-based NGO forced into manual scavenging has sent shockwaves and jolted police into action.In the video which went viral on Saturday, the girl can be seen repeatedly dipping into a deep manhole and rising till her chin and dumping muck from a bowl on the footpath, while other children lend a helping hand.Many kids in the orphanage are HIV infected and the irony can't be missed as the NGO, AGAPE, boldly carries a tagline - Caring for AIDS Orphans.Manual scavenging is banned in India and police took cognizance of the video to lodge a criminal case against the NGO warden, Prajavathi.The video was made available by AP Balala Hakkula Sangam to Rachakonda commissioner Mahesh Bhagwath, “A case has been lodged under Section 14 of Child Labour Act, 1986, and Section 73 of JJ Act at Uppal police station against the warden. She was taken into custody . She often used children for daily chores and cleaning of drains," said Bhagwath.Apart from Prajavathi, a few other supervisors of the home were also taken into custody. Children were made to use plastic gloves and cover their face with a mask.The children at the orphanage are in the age group of 8 and 14. On Saturday, the children were forced to clean a choked drain and locals tipped off Balala Hakkula Sangham, who brought this to the notice of the Rachakonda police commissioner."When we entered the premises, we found children were cleaning the premises with broomsticks," Balala Hakkula Sangam member Achuta Rao told STOI.“We are regularly made to do domestic chores by the home authorities. We clean the drain occasionally," a girl told reporters.Uppal inspector Y Narasimha Reddy said the accused and victims' statement would be recorded and those responsible for forcing children into manual scavenging would be arrested.