Following a tip-off from Income Tax department authorities who recently visited the residence in Yediyur, Bengaluru police arrested a jeweller for reportedly employing two young girls as domestic staff in his home.
The girls, ages 10 and 8, were rescued by authorities in Gaya, Bihar. According to authorities, the jeweller’s son took them to the residence from Mysore, where their parents worked, to care for his ailing mother.
The police said I-T officers tipped them off during a raid at the jeweller’s house as part of a bigger search for alleged tax cheating at other jewellers in south Bengaluru. They told the cops that the two girls were being used to conduct housework and care for the jeweller’s ailing wife.
The goldsmith, Ashok Kumar Chand, 51, and his sons, Shreyans Chowdhare, 27, and Gaurav Chowdhare, 25, were arrested on their own.
The police charged them with exploitation of a child employee under Section 79 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, which carries a five-year prison sentence, and child labor under the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986, which carries a three-month to a year prison sentence.