On Wednesday, the Childline Nagaon rescued six children whose parents were arrested in connection with the Batadraba police station arson attack that took place on Saturday in Assam’s Nagaon district.
The operation was prompted after several journalists from the area shed light on the sufferings of the children left homeless following Saturday’s incident.
The children abandoned following their parents’ arrest under suspicion of being involved in the violence have been living in appalling conditions since Sunday, surviving only on water.
Of the six children rescued, two are the children of Rafikul Islam, brother of Safikul Islam, the fish trader who was allegedly killed in police custody. While Rafikul was arrested, his wife Ashmina Khatun fled the village, leaving the two children to fend for themselves.
Their house was bulldozed by the authorities on Sunday.
According to one of the locals, the children were left to fend for themselves after other locals refused to shelter them, fearing arrest or worse, the demolition of their homes on the lines of other alleged arsonists.
Batadraba has been in the headlines after a police station in the area was burnt down by an irate mob on Saturday after protesting against the alleged custodial death of Safiqul Islam, who was allegedly arrested for being drunk.
Reacting to the violence, the Nagaon administration on Sunday bulldozed the houses of five people suspected to have been involved in setting the police station ablaze.
Innocent children have been at the receiving end too. It is suspected that there are more children who have been left without parents, homeless and hungry.
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