Most street children in Kathmandu ran away from their homes to escape violence and poverty but the streets they have taken to are a feeding ground for abuse and exploitation. These children often fall prey and to sexual predators and dangerous criminals. Often caught up in a web of crime, abuse and exploitation these children live in poor conditions without any parental support or security and are exposed to drugs, crimes and hazardous jobs.
According to the Resource and Information Centre of Child Workers in Nepal (CWIN) there are around 5000 street children all over Nepal. In Kathmandu alone, it is estimated that the number of street children is approximately 1200-1500.
In conversation with NepalNews, Superintendent of Kathmandu Metropolitan Police, Santosh Singh Rathour said, “The metropolitan police have rescued 124 female children and 120 male children just this year from the streets. We try to contact the children’s family members and if we fail to do so we send the rescued children to different organizations who can provide them with food and shelter.”
“Sometimes, the children we rescue are from far away districts who had gone missing for a very long time. We try to reunite such children with their parents,” he adds. SP Rathour was reluctant about disclosing the crime records of street children, as they are minors and not subjected to any penalty, yet he hinted that they do get involved in theft on a recurrent basis.
