The students, all minors, were taken away on April 10 after the Child Welfare Committee received a complaint of unauthorised travel
NEW DELHI — The 14-day ordeal of 163 madrasa students, who were disembarked from a train by police from Katni and Jabalpur railway stations in Madhya Pradesh, ended on Friday (April 24).
The students, all minors, on their way to a madrasa, were taken away on April 10 after the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) received a complaint of their unauthorised travel. The minors hailed from the Jokihat area in Bihar’s Araria district and were travelling from Patna Junction to study in madrasas in other states. The group was travelling with eight adults.
Congress MLA Arif Masood shared a video showing him speaking with the madrasa students and their supervisors, who confirmed they had been released and were preparing to return home.
The children, mostly aged 6 to 14, were released after investigations confirmed they were travelling for education rather than being trafficked.
Railway officials at the time of the incident had said the situation was flagged because it is not normal for a child to be admitted to a school without the parents being present.
While the children were kept in child protection units in Katni and Jabalpur, the Bihar Police conducted door-to-door verification in their home villages. Parents confirmed they had sent their children voluntarily for better education.
