Mangaluru: In a joint operation, 17 girls aged around 13 to 18 years, engaged to pick fish at the Malpe port here, were rescued by the women and child development department and Udupi district child protection unit on Thursday, officials said.
The rescue operation was held early Thursday as the children were working to pick fish from the Malpe port for buyers. Police sources say the children, whose parents work in the Udupi district belong to Koppal and Ballari.
Police, Childline, and Nagariga Seva Trust took part in the operation.
The children's details are being examined, the sources said.
The rescued children were produced before the Child Welfare Committee.
District child protection officer Sadanand Nayak, labour officer Kumar, labour inspector Praveen and other officials were part of the team.
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Hyderabad (PTI): The Cyberabad police have issued a look-out circular against Union Minister Bandi Sanjay Kumar's son Bandi Bageerath, who has been booked under the POCSO Act, to prevent him from fleeing the country.
A police official told PTI on Saturday that searches are being conducted to nab Bageerath.
Meanwhile, Telangana Rakshana Sena (TRS) president K Kavitha, in a letter addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, demanded the removal of Sanjay Kumar, MoS (Home), from the Union Cabinet "to ensure a free and fair investigation in the POCSO case involving his son".
In a setback to Bageerath, the Telangana High Court on Friday night did not grant him any interim protection from arrest.
Dealing with an interim anticipatory bail petition of Bageerath, the court said it was not inclined to grant any interim order at this stage.
The counsel for Bageerath had requested interim protection from arrest until the orders on the petition were issued.
The case was registered under relevant Sections of the BNS and POCSO Act on May 8 against Bageerath based on a complaint by the mother of a 17-year-old girl, who alleged that Bageerath was in a relationship with her daughter and sexually harassed her.
After recording the statement of the victim, more stringent sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act were invoked in the case.
Bageerath had also lodged a counter-complaint, alleging that the girl, who got acquainted with him, had invited him to family functions and group gatherings. An FIR was registered based on Bageerath’s complaint.
In the complaint, Bageerath stated that, believing the girl’s family to be trustworthy, he accompanied them on visits to certain holy places as part of a group of friends.
He further alleged that the girl and her parents later pressured him to marry her. When he rejected the proposal, the girl's parents allegedly demanded money and threatened to file false complaints against him if he failed to pay.
Bageerath claimed that, out of fear, he paid Rs 50,000 to the girl's father, but the family later demanded Rs 5 crore. He also alleged that they threatened that the girl's mother would commit suicide if he failed to meet their demands.
