By Xinhua,
Kathmandu : More than 500 Nepali children below the age of 14 have been sold to various circus companies in India last year, Nepal’s RSS news agency reported Thursday, quoting a new report.
The Report on Condition of Nepali Children: 2008 said around 500 Nepali children have been sold to Indian circus companies on various pretexts.
The majority of the children were from Nepal’s southern districts of Bara, Makwanpur, Chitwan, Janakpur, Nawalparasi, Morang, Udayapur, Sarlahi and Ilam, the report compiled by the government’s Central Child Welfare Committee, said.
The companies lure poor parents with good money that oblige them to give away their children, it said.
The report said 217 children have been rescued from various Indian cities between 2004 and 2007, adding that the number of children rescued this year reached 292 in May.
Parents who were promised 8,000 to 10,000 Nepali rupees (about $114 to $143) per month in lieu of their children’s contracts with the circus companies have not even received Rs.500 (about $7), the report said.