SLN arrests begging children in Thalaimannaar

[TamilNet, Saturday, 21 June 2008, 00:55 GMT]
A 12-year-old girl with her 9-year-old sister and another 10-year-old girl, who had taken to street-begging and reached Thalaimannaar pier where a Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) camp is located, were arrested by the SLN. They were later handed over to Thalaimannaar Police, who brought the children to the Mannaar Courts Friday. Mannaar District Judge T. J. Prabakaran ordered the children to be placed under protective custody till 26 June. The children were sent to Anuradhapura prison from Mannaar, according to legal sources.

The Judge ordered the Police to bring the parents to the courts on 26 June.

The girls had given their names as Govindan Mathuraiveeran Jenny, 10, Palani Kandasamy Rahini, 9 and Palani Kandasamy Sounthary, 12.

According to the children, they were residing for many years in Murungkan in the mainland of Mannaar district. Their parents had displaced from Ki'linochchi to Murngunkan many years ago as IDPs.

The poor-stricken children had chosen to make a trip into the city of Mannaar asking people for money to buy food and reached Thalaimannaar. They were arrested while playing along the coast, after they satisfied their hunger.