- HETAUDA -- Running away to
the circus is a clichÈ of childhood freedom. But for hundreds of
Nepalese children sold into a life of slavery and abuse in Indian circuses
by their parents life under the big top is a nightmare. For the sad young
clowns and limping acrobats beatings and sexual abuse are routine.
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- A British charity, the Esther Benjamins Trust, freed
29 children, the youngest only seven, last month in the first raid of its
kind. Now the children have been reunited with their parents or put in
residential care provided by the trust.
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- They have grim tales of life in the circus. They were
fed rotten vegetables and shared grain with the horses. One girl said she
had been there for eight years. During an 18-hour day the children would
be beaten for making mistakes in rehearsals or during the three daily performances.
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- Lt-Col Philip Holmes left the Army and founded the Esther
Benjamins Trust five years ago as a tribute to his wife, who committed
suicide because she was childless.
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- "At Esther's funeral I delivered a eulogy. I still
don't know how I did it," he said. "I talked about what she had
done for other people. I promised at that time that I would rekindle that
light and I have. I've kept that promise and that means a lot."
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- At the trust's office in Hetauda, a southern town in
the region all the children come from, three grinning little girls aged
between nine and 13 recounted their earlier life as if it was the most
normal thing in the world.
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- They are back amid the gentle hills and greenery of their
home. But only two weeks earlier they had been the length of India away,
with apparently little hope of release. Rina, a pretty, shy 13-year-old
in a new red dress, was beaten for crying in her tent at night, until the
stick broke. Another girl was beaten to death because she fainted while
carrying water.
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- Lt-Col Holmes works with Capt Khem Thapa, a retired Gurkha
officer, who said there were three reasons why parents sold their children
to circus owners for as little as £20. "One is poverty, another
is gullibility - because these people are illiterate - and the third is
pure and simple greed."
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- Many parents were told that their children would be given
education and a good life in the circus but came to regret their decision.
Eight parents joined the party that travelled to Kerala in the south of
India to retrieve their children.
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- At the Hetauda office the 29 children rushed about playing
in their colourful new clothes. Others sat in the shade with their parents,
some of whom have become heroes in their villages for their role in the
raid.
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- Every child will now receive education or training. Those
like Rina, whose parents cannot be found, or are unable to take them back,
will be given care at the trust's residential home.
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- Indian circuses favour Nepalese children for their pale
skin and exotic looks. Younger children are particularly prized because
of their flexibility in contortion acts with titles such as "boneless".
Other acts include "star kiss", in which a child is whirled around
the circus tent by a rope which she grips with her teeth. Accidents are
common.
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- Twenty-five of the 29 returnees are girls. Lt-Col Holmes
said performances have strong sexual connotations, with performers scantily
dressed. Several children said they witnessed rapes and sexual assaults.
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- There are about 30 big circuses in India. Lt-Col Holmes
said the latest returnees were just the beginning. "We are planning
on a maximum of 300-400 children," he said. "I don't know what
will happen, but I feel there is much more around the corner."
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- - Nepal's political crisis took an uncertain turn yesterday
when the prime minister, Surya Bahadur Thapa, resigned following a month
of demonstrations against his government. He said he hoped his departure
would help bring about elections and peace talks with the Maoist rebels.
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- © Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2004. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/05/08/
wnepal08.xml&sSheet=/news/2004/05/08/ixworld.html
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