Indore: Woman Caught Forcing Her Children to Beg, Claims Income of Rs 2.5 Lakhs in 45 Days

INDORE, MADHYA PRADESH: A 40-year-old woman reportedly made Rs 2.5 lakhs in one and a half months by forcing her eight-year-old daughter and two sons to beg on the streets of Indore. The woman was recently apprehended by city officials as part of an ongoing drive to make Indore beggar-free which itself is part of a larger pilot project instituted by the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. Rupali Jain, president of the Pravesh, an NGO working with the city authorities in this drive, told PTI that the woman in question, Indra Bai was caught begging at the Luv-Kush intersection on the Indore-Ujjain road with Rs 19,200 worth of funds in her possession. Moreover, the NGO has claimed that Indra Bai's begging activities are so lucrative that her family, which is part of a group of 150 people begging around Indore, owns a piece of land and even a two-story house in Rajasthan.   

Adding to this, Jain claimed that Indra's husband purchased a motorcycle in her name which the couple uses to roam around the city. 

After Indra was apprehended, her daughter was placed under the care of the Child Welfare Committee and her two sons, aged nine and 10, fled the scene. Upon being questioned, Indra revealed that she had earned Rs 2.5 lakh in the last 45 days, of which Rs 1 lakh was sent to her in-laws, 50,000 was deposited in a bank account and another 50,000 was invested in a fixed deposit scheme.

Indra has now been arrested under section 151 (arrest to prevent the commission of the cognisable offence) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), sub-inspector Ishwarchandra Rathod of Banganga police station said.

The woman was produced before an assistant commissioner of police (ACP) court, which remanded her judicial custody, he said.

Indore District Magistrate Ashish Singh said, "We have set a target to rescue children forced to beg in the city. So far, 10 children have been rescued and sent to the government-run children's home." Action is also being taken against gangs involved in forcing children to beg, he said. 

With inputs from PTI.