Chennai, (IANS)| Tamil Nadu Forest Department officials have rescued a baby monkey from the clutches of a begging racket at Chennai’s famous Marina beach. The baby monkey released from the racket belongs to the bonnet macaque (Macaca radiate) species and is covered under Schedule-II (Part 1) of the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972.
Forest officials said that those from whose possession these monkeys are found could face up to 3 years in jail and a fine of Rs 25,000 for first-time offenders and up to 7 years for regular offenders.There were complaints from regular beach-goers that children and monkeys were being used for begging and that an organized racket seemed to be behind it.Sundararajan, a software engineer (who regularly spends his evenings after Marina opens at the beach), told IANS: “These kids come here to beg for alms and they grab our feet. Until we give them money. Till then they don’t leave. It doesn’t seem natural and police patrols intervene only when we file a complaint.”
Forest officials said the cubs of monkeys are caught using nets from forest areas of Tamil Nadu including the Nilgiris and brought to Chennai for begging.A senior police officer from Marina Beach police station told IANS, “We had detained some children a few days back, but they were crying and crying. There should be a proper investigation to get to the bottom of this racket.” And till the time there is no investigation, things will go on like this.”However, child rights activists say that the police and the begging mafia are on each other’s side.
Child rights activist Josie Jose, who works with children, told IANS: “The police are looking at the other side because there seems to be a nexus between the police and the begging mafia. The children are mostly from north Indian states and as we warned earlier. The pandemic has increased the number of children in South Indian states and will continue to do so unless appropriately organized action is implemented.”
(Disclaimer: This news has been published directly from the news agency’s syndicate feed. It has not been edited by AnyTV team.)