Nepal

Illegal Child Labor Affects Millions in Nepal

Publication Date

Illegal Child Labor Affects Millions in Nepal

Ghanshyam Mahato, 13, was hospitalized after he was beaten by his 'master.'

Publication Date

KATHMANDU, NEPAL -- “She brought out an iron rod, made it hot and branded my face, then my whole body,” says Ghanshyam Mahato, 13, from his hospital bed in Kathmandu.


On July 2, Mahato was rescued by neighbors after fleeing the home of a prominent local police inspector, who illegally employed him as a domestic servant. He was brought to the hospital after suffering injuries at the hands of his “master,” Sushila Pathak, the wife of the police inspector.

Mahato lays on his back in the emergency ward of Kanti Bal Hospital, Nepal’s only children’s hospital. He stares at the whirring ceiling fan. Near him, four other young patients battle pneumonia, diarrhea and fever. Mahato is dark skinned and thin. He is sweating.

Trying to turn over on to his right side, he whimpers. “Ouch,” he moans in a thin voice as he forces himself over. Blue bruises and blistering burns from the iron rod cover his frail body.

“My master beat me with a hot iron rod for disobeying her rules,” he says. For the last year, Mahato has been working as a domestic laborer in the house of a Inspector Chet Bahadur Pathak, of the Kathmandu police force. Like many child laborers, Mahato experienced abuse at the hands of his “masters,” as he calls them. This time, his wounds left him hospitalized.

The reality of Mahato’s abuses sparked tension among Pathak’s neighbors in Kathmandu. For several days after neighbors brought Mahato to the hospital, angry community members encircled the Pathak’s house and chanted slogans against them. Eventually, the police were called as the situation escalated and protestors demanded the arrest of the Pathak family for their abuses.  


Poverty Began the Cycle of Abuse

Mahato is from Jhapa, an eastern district of Nepal. His home village is more than 300 miles from the capital, Kathmandu. From his hospital bed, Mahato told his story. His parents are also laborers in the home of a wealthy neighbor. He began working in their home at the age of seven. One day, his parents were approached by a visiting relative who said he could place Mahato as a laborer in the home of a police officer in Kathmandu. His parents were promised that good money would be sent back to the village.

In the face of grinding poverty, his parents agreed and sent their son to Kathmandu with the hope that Mahato would help them make ends meet. When Mahato arrived at the home of Inspector Chet Bahadur Pathak Mahato says a verbal agreement was made, entitling him to a monthly salary of 700 rupees, $9.30 USD, and room and board. For his duties, he says he was assigned to wash dishes, clean the house, wash the laundry and perform other basic household tasks.

But child laborers in Nepal often receive no financial compensation for their work and face ill-treatment at the hands of their employers. A 2004 study, the most recent available, conducted by Child Workers in Nepal, CWIN, the country’s leading organization working for the rights of children, revealed that as many as 80 percent of children do not receive wages despite working for long hours. CIWN reports that half of all child laborers in Nepal are subject to violence, 14 percent of which is sexual violence.

CWIN chairman Gauri Pradhan says an adult in Nepal is expected to work eight hours a day, while child laborers often work from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m – a 17 hour day. “It is sad fact that they are forced to work for such a long time just to earn two square meals a day,” Pradhan says, adding that employing a child under the age of 14 is illegal here.

In the beginning, Mahato says he was happy to work at a house equipped with modern facilities like running water, television, a gas stove and a garden. He had never seen such luxuries. But the charm of his new surroundings began to disappear as Sushila Pathak, the wife of Inspector Pathak, started beating him when his performance was not to her liking.

When Mahato was admitted to the emergency ward. Pathak's wife was called into the police station. In her official statement to police she claimed to love Mahato like his son. She provided an alternate explanation for his burns. Her statement in the report read, “While I was ironing my cloths, he came in contact with it and his body burnt. But I had slapped him for stealing money.”

However, Sub-Inspector Dirgha Bogati says a police investigation revealed that the child was branded by hot rod.  Despite the findings, Pathak has not faced criminal charges or fines for her actions.

Employing Children Under 14 Illegal, Rarely Enforced

Since 2000, Nepal has prohibited the act of employing a child under the age of 14. According to the law, children between the ages of 15 and 18 cannot work for more than six hours per day. Violations of the law carry a penalty of two to 12 months in jail or fine up to 50,000 rupees, $670 USD, or both.

However, in practice, experts and advocates confirm, these provisions are rarely implemented. "There is law in place, but its implementation is dismal. So, many culprits go unpunished," says Ujjawal Ghimire, an advocate at the Supreme Court of Nepal.

“Many perpetrators are walking scott free,” Ghimire says. “Most affluent people [in Nepal] keep child workers in their homes. Outside they talk about child rights, at home they sit silent.”

Girls and Boys Experience Illegal Labor, Violence

Sunita Chaudhary, 14, says she always remains busy at her master’s home. She has never been to school.  "So many of the children my age go to school," she says.  "I want to study, but I am a poor person and I do not have money for that."

Chaudhary, who had never seen a big city before she arrived in Kathmandu from a small city in the western district of Nepal called Dang. Dang is more than 200 miles from Kathmandu. She is the third of six children born into a poor family. A local woman, Meera Sharma, brought her to Kathmandu to earn her own living when she was 11. Chaudhary became a nanny and domestic helper for a woman named Sheela Subedi.

Like Mahato, Chaudhary was forced to work long hours and was confined to her “master’s” home. According to the International Labor Organization, ILO, more than 246 million children around the world, between the ages of 5 and 17, are victim to illegal labor. In Nepal, the ILO estimates as many as 2.6 million children are working in forced labor conditions. Among these, the Labor Ministry in Kathmandu, estimates as many as 60,000 children work as domestic laborers in Kathmandu. Ten percent of the children working here are under the age of 10 and 45 percent are between the ages of 10 and 15.

Though many people here who employ children say they are aware of the law, they defend their actions. Chaudhary's master, Subedi, says, "I am aware that child labor is illegal. Since my husband and I are working at offices, we have to leave our children to her responsibility. If we send her to school, what would be the use of bringing her here?"

Chaudhary says she did not know that her employment was illegal. “All I know is I have to work the whole day. Even when I am not well, I feel scared to tell my employer,” she says.


Like Mahato, Chaudhary says her parents felt that they had no option other than to send her to Kathmandu to earn a living. "My parents sent me here to lessen the financial burden of my family," Chaudhary says.  

 

Advocates say Government Efforts Are Minimal

"The government is creating awareness among [the] public to stop child domestic labor in the country," says Radhika Uprety, the secretary of the Child Labor Department, a division of the Labor Ministry here.  "The government is working as much as possible for the child laborers. More than criticism, we need support from all sectors," she says.

But CWIN chairman, Pradhan says the government is doing little to end domestic child labor. “The state is mainly responsible to educate children, fulfill their rights and ensure their bright future. However, in practice the government is not fulfilling its duty. There are many domestic and foreign social organizations working in the field of child labor. But the government is doing less than the private organizations.”

The government here is has been in a state of near constant unrest since 1994, with a decade long civil war that resulted in a complete reorganization of government. Still, autorities here are widely accused of turning a blind eye to child labor and exploitation. “Those persons employing children as domestic helpers should be punished,” says child rights activist Durga Kharel. "The government has not prioritized the problems of child laborers."

"Without this work, we will starve to death. So how will we raise voices and who will listen to us?" asks Chaudhary. Mahato echoes her concern. “If my parents were rich, my destiny would have landed me in different world. But since that didn’t happen, I have no other alternative than to work at the master’s home,” says Mahato.

Both Mahato and Chaudhary say they dream of being educated and employed in a better place. While Mahato wants to be a social worker, Chaudhary says she has a desire to be teacher and educate the children deprived of education.