The district-level child welfare committee here has decided to send back six minor girls from Odisha who were detrained under suspicious circumstances at the Shoranur Railway Station in the first week of July along with 29 others.
The children were travelling in a coach of Dhanbad-Alappuzha Express and a medical examination found that they had been sexually exploited. The police have registered a case. Investigations are on about the possible human trafficking angle to the incident. The child welfare committee has decided to send them back based on a petition by their parents from Gajapathy district in Orissa, who reached Palakkad two days ago. The children are now housed at a shelter home. The committee has instructed the district child protection officer to arrange their return journey. The railway police have charged a case under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO). A woman who brought the children to Kerala was arrested along with five male accomplices.
Meanwhile, the child welfare committee is expecting the arrival of parents of nine minors from Jharkhand, who were rescued along with those from Odisha.
