Some of the children 'rescued' from Palakkad railway station.
Orphanages across Kerala have come under the scanner after the High Court today took up a
suo motu case against alleged child trafficking in the state. The court has asked the state government to submit a list of all the children living in orphanages across Kerala, even those from other states.
The state government has to submit the list within four weeks.
The
suo motu case came up during the hearing of petitions filed over the 'rescue' of 579 children from Kerala's Palakkad railway station in May.
The police had found that the adults accompanying the children did not have the required documents.
When contacted by authorities, the parents of many of the children from various states -- including Jharkhand, Bihar and West Bengal -- had said that they had sent their children to these orphanages because of the high-quality of living and education in the state. Because of their impoverished background, they couldn't provide much for their children, the parents told the authorities.
The court has been hearing two cases related to alleged child trafficking after the incident; the Central Bureau of Investigation or CBI had filed an affidavit saying it is willing to investigate the case.