11-10-2021, 07:53 AM
Neo Chai Chin
Sumithra Prasanna
10 Oct 2021 06:15AM
(Updated: 10 Oct 2021 06:01AM)
BIHAR: When 10-year-old Shahbuddin’s* father died months ago, the weight of the world landed on his shoulders. The oldest of seven children, the burden of supporting the family fell to him.
The family had no land and no relatives to help with money. Shahbuddin’s mother was distraught and struggling. “My mom stays at home. She does not have money and she keeps on weeping. She begs for food and sometimes works as a daily wage worker in farms and feeds us,” he told CNA’s Insight programme.
An acquaintance from his village in India’s eastern Bihar state took advantage of his plight and lured him to leave home with the promise of a job.
......
India made global headlines for its devastating second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in April and May. Many patients could not get hold of oxygen and crematoriums were overwhelmed. But another tragedy was also playing out.
Sonal Kapoor, founder of child rights group Protsahan India Foundation, calls it the “sea of broken children” – young ones who have lost their parents to the pandemic or have been forced to stop school, work as cheap labour or be married off as child brides.
While these issues existed long before the pandemic, COVID-19 has aggravated the problems of children
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/cna-insi...ia-2229326
Sumithra Prasanna
10 Oct 2021 06:15AM
(Updated: 10 Oct 2021 06:01AM)
BIHAR: When 10-year-old Shahbuddin’s* father died months ago, the weight of the world landed on his shoulders. The oldest of seven children, the burden of supporting the family fell to him.
The family had no land and no relatives to help with money. Shahbuddin’s mother was distraught and struggling. “My mom stays at home. She does not have money and she keeps on weeping. She begs for food and sometimes works as a daily wage worker in farms and feeds us,” he told CNA’s Insight programme.
An acquaintance from his village in India’s eastern Bihar state took advantage of his plight and lured him to leave home with the promise of a job.
......
India made global headlines for its devastating second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in April and May. Many patients could not get hold of oxygen and crematoriums were overwhelmed. But another tragedy was also playing out.
Sonal Kapoor, founder of child rights group Protsahan India Foundation, calls it the “sea of broken children” – young ones who have lost their parents to the pandemic or have been forced to stop school, work as cheap labour or be married off as child brides.
While these issues existed long before the pandemic, COVID-19 has aggravated the problems of children
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/cna-insi...ia-2229326