Five boys were recently rescued from a sweets shop in Kathmandu (Nepal), where they worked over fourteen hours a day as child laborers. Back in March, the Kathmandu Justice Hub had received information from the owner of a local café about suspected child labor in a nearby facility producing and selling sweets.
After undercover operations revealed that five children were working at the sweets shop, the Justice Hub collaborated with a partner organization to schedule a rescue operation in May. On the day of the rescue, police officers entered the establishment to verify the presence of child laborers, but not all the victims were initially present.
Further investigation resulted in the discovery of a separate room above the shop, and after an hour and half all five victims were successfully rescued from the sweets shop. The children were placed in a temporary children’s shelter where they received counseling as the team sought to determine the boys’ area of origin.
It was discovered that the boys came from poor families in the Tarai region in Nepal and were brought by a neighbor who works at the sweet shop. The parents have been contacted to reunite with their children, and they will receive legal counseling to file a case against the shop owner.
