Police have rescued a boy who was being taken to India to study in a monastery, called his parents, and sent him back home.
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21 children who were being taken to Dehradun, India have been rescued from Hetauda Bus Park. The children who came from Sindhuli, Bara, Dhading and Sarlahi districts were being taken to India by the police along with various organizations from the bus park on Wednesday.
A Buddhist religious teacher was taken into custody after he was questioned on suspicion that he was going to take the children to a monastery in Manduwala Chowk, Dehradun, India, according to the Makawanpur District Police.
In a joint search conducted by the Child Protection Division (Child Helpline), Sana Hathu Nepal, Maiti Nepal and the police, Bikash Lama of Hariharpurgadhi Rural Municipality-8, Sindhuli, was taken into custody and questioned and told that he was going to take the children to Dehradun with the consent of his family.
The rescued children are between the ages of 4 and 18, informed Jhabindra Gyawali, Manager of Child Protection Division, Cibin Nepal. The children have said that they have been studying in the monastery for five years after being sent by their parents and have been going back and forth frequently. The children said that the monastery provides education on the knowledge of Buddha in Tibetan and English.
Despite the provision that children should not be sent abroad alone without a guardian, it has been found that the Nijgadh Municipality Ward 11 and 12 offices have given recommendations for studying in foreign monasteries.
Sub-section 3 of Section 7 of Nepal's Children's Act 2075 states that no father, mother, family member or guardian shall leave their children or children under their guardianship unattended, while Sub-section 5 of Section 17 of the same act also states that no father, mother, other family member or guardian shall leave children under the age of 5 alone at home or other places or send them alone without an adult guardian. The District Police Makwanpur has stated that the parents of the rescued children have been summoned and sent back home.
