Over 3,000 distressed children rescued in Odisha

Odisha Police along with officials of Women and Child Development (WCD) department have rescued 3,188 children, including 82 from outside the state, under an initiative to help minors in distress.

The 'Operation Paree-III' drive of the state police was launched on August 15 and continued till August 30, during which 3,138 children, missing from homes, were rescued from roadside eateries in Odisha.

The children, rescued from outside the state were found in such eateries, garages and engaged in household work in Andhra Pradesh (20), Telengana (4), Chhattisgarh (8), Jharkhand (9), West Bengal (17), Maharastra (5), Delhi (4) and Tamil Nadu (15).

The children were handed over to the respective Child Welfare Committees after medical examination, a member of the rescue team said.

Official sources said, 1,792 children, including 1,291 girls, went missing in 2016, while 1,851 children met the same fate in 2017. The number was 1,360 in 2017.

In 2018, 2,334 children, including 1,875 girls, went missing.

In the first three months of 2019, 602 children, including 502 girls, have gone missing. Of the 502 girls, only 79 girls were rescued.