Front Line is concerned by reports that representatives of a child labour rescue mission were attacked by members of a cement company located in Neemuch, Madhya Pradesh, as they tried to conduct a raid, together with local police, on the company who had been found to be employing over 100 children under the age of 14 years.

=Further Information

Mr Raghvendra Singh Tomar, State Coordinator of Bachpan Bachao Andolan in Madhya Pradesh, and Ms Babita Singh, member of the District Child Welfare Committee, were leading the rescue team on 28 February 2009. Bachpan Bachao Andolan is a people's movement that is run through a coalition of three NGOs: the ssociation of Voluntary Action, the Bal Ashram Trust and the Save the Childhood Foundation. They aim to identify, liberate, rehabilitate and educate children in servitude through direct intervention, child and community participation, coalition building, consumer action, promoting ethical trade practices and mass mobilisation.

On 28 February 2009, Raghvendra Singh Tomar and Babita Singh, together with a team of local police, attempted to conduct a raid on the Birla Cement Company, a flagship company of Aditya Birla, Vikram Cement (VC) Thermal Power Plant, in order to rescue a number of over 100 children under the age of 14 who were reported to be employed by the company and working in dangerous and inhumane conditions.

During the raid they were attacked and beaten by between 10 and 15 people before aborting the rescue operation. They were only able to rescue 10 children; 7 girls and 3 boys. Upon leaving the company following the attack they went to the police station in Naya Gaon to request protection and to file a First Information Report (FIR) against the manager of the company but the police refused to even register the case.

Indian law prohibits the employment of children under the age of 14 but it is recognised by all sectors that child labour continues to contribute significantly to their economy. The Indian government estimates that there are currently 13 million children employed in the garment industry, while some children's rights activists place the number at approximately 60 million.

Front Line believes that the human rights defenders were attacked as a result of their legitimate activities in defence of human rights and their attempts to protect the rights of children from forced labour.