AIZAWL, June 8 - A 29-year-old man was arrested recently in Champhai town in eastern Mizoram for allegedly forcing two kids to beg on the streets.
Champhai district Child Protection Officer R Lalrinchhani said Suresh Kumar Chakma, who hails from Lawngtlai district in Mizoram, has been charged under Section 76 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2015 (JJ Act) and has been lodged in the Champhai district jail.
Lalrinchhani said they had received reports that two kids, along with two visually-impaired adults, were begging on the streets of Champhai recently.
The District Child Protection Unit, Child Welfare Committee and the police in Champhai launched an investigation and discovered that Chakma was behind the forced begging.
Chakma and the others came from Lawngtlai district and stayed in a hotel while carrying out the begging racket, she said.
She said that Chakma has several aliases and has carried out begging rackets in all the district headquarters of Mizoram for the last five years.
The Child Protection Officer stated that begging is prohibited under the Juvenile Justice Act, and urged the public to report such cases to the Child Protection Office or Child Welfare Committee.
