Title - Child made to carry dead body handed over to NGO

GUWAHATI: The Assam State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (ASCPCR) handed over a child, who was forced to carry a dead body in a hand cart by Government Railway Police (GRP) officials in Guwahati Railway Station, to Childline, an NGO on Saturday.The incident that took place in June sent shock waves through the state. The hearing on the incident was held in presence of ASCPCR chairperson Suchitra Kakoty and other members of the commission. The accused officer-in-charge was also present during the hearing.Kakoty said soon after the incident was telecasted on TV, the commission wrote to the GRP seeking a report on the incident. "The GRP has already taken necessary disciplinary action against the concerned GRP officer-in-charge and he has been transferred. The child has been handed over to Childline. The NGO will soon produce the child before the Child Welfare Committee (CWC). The CWC will then send him to a children's home," said an ASCPCR official.The official said the nine-year-old child has admitted that he was engaged by the police to carry dead bodies to crematoriums and police used to pay him Rs 100 to 200 for carrying them.The incident of the child carrying a dead body from the railway station was aired in a Guwahati-based private television channel on June 26. Based on this TV report, the state child right commission registered a sue motto case against the accused police officials.

The official said the GRP engaged children for carrying dead bodies earlier too. "The CWC will see the capabilities of the boy and help him become a responsible citizen," the official said.