Summary:
“The number of child labour cases has come down in the district,” child protection officer D Vasanth Kumar told TOI. Tirupur: A trial court here has given one-and-a-half years of prison sentence to the owners of a knitwear unit in the city for employing child labourers.The district child protection unit (CPU) officials had inspected the garment checking centre run by T Sivakumar and his wife Shanthi of Muthu Nagar on Kongu Main Road on November 26, 2014. Of the 20 people working in the unit, 18 were minors. Judge D Kaviyarasan sentenced Sivakumar and Shanthi to one year imprisonment under JJ Act, and six more months under the IPC.Social activists were pleased that the case ended up in conviction. Five of them were less than 14 years old.Tirupur district administration had directed the CPU to inspect the unit after one of the child labourers escaped from there and lodged a complaint.Authorities found that the children were given accommodation in the unit, despite it lacked basic amenities..