Lucknow, Oct 14 (IANS): Abducted by a truck driver and sold to a farmer for child labour in Amritsar, a 14-year-old boy finally managed to escape and was rescued by the ChildLine from the Amritsar railway station.
Satyendra, 14, was kidnapped three years ago by a truck driver who sold him to a farmer in Amritsar, police said.
Narrating his ordeal, Satyendra said, "There were around six other teenage boys from different states who were brought to the barn for labour. Our job was to feed cattle and keep the barn clean.
"We were given new identities and converted to other religions. I was called Shiva and was asked to wear a turban. They used to assault me and keep me starved if I insisted on leaving," he told reporters after he was returned to his parents in Itaunja, on the outskirts of Lucknow on Wednesday.
Satyendra said that he was taken to Katrayaina Kala village which is on the outskirts of Amritsar city. "We were shackled before we went to sleep," he said.
Sumit Yadav, Satyendra's cousin who went to Amritsar to get him, said, "Itauja police did not lodge FIR even after a written complaint. For months, police kept on misleading the family and evaded questions about their son's whereabouts. They never made an attempt to search for him."