Escape from the circus

By Charles Haviland BBC correspondent in Nepal

Some of the children rescued from a circus in Kerala, India

A group of 29 children, mostly girls, are back in their home district in southern Nepal after being rescued from working in an Indian circus.

They were joyfully reunited with their parents and families earlier this month.

Days later, they gathered at the office of the Nepal Child Welfare Foundation (NCWF) in the district headquarters, Hetauda.

Against a backdrop of lush hills and fields of ripening maize, the children are immersed in board games and television.

Some parents can't quite believe they are with them again after long separations.

"God has helped me. I can't even express my happiness," says Surja Lama, the elderly father of 16-year-old Uma, clasping his hands in prayer.

Breaking down and weeping, he recounts how Uma went to India on her own.

She confirms that she was persuaded to go by her brother after he was paid 2,000 rupees ($28) by a notorious local recruiting agent.

There's been regular beatings, sexual abuse and dangers inherent in the acts Philip Holmes Esther Benjamins Trust

"I had to perform wearing very short, revealing clothes," Uma says.

"I hated them. We weren't allowed to wear long dresses."

The circus acts were frequently dangerous.

One girl, Padmini, had to balance a vertical sword in her mouth, the sharp end between her teeth, with a flower pot at the other end. Holding it, she had to climb a stepladder.

Fifteen-year-old Laxmi would be suspended from the roof by a rope held in her mouth.

Ten-year-old Nisha says she was frequently beaten and could never leave the compound.

She was recruited by the same agent as Uma, who promised - falsely - that she would have time to study.

Tense negotiations

The children were rescued from the Great Indian Circus at Palakkad in Kerala, southern India, in mid-April.

Uma and her father Surja Lama. "God has helped me," he says

It was "raided" by Nepali and Indian activists from NCWF and the South Asian Coalition on Child Servitude.

NCWF's Indra Dahal went backstage to talk to the child artistes.

Wary at first, they were won over when he spoke to them in Nepali - a language they were forbidden to use within the circus.

It took three tense days of negotiations with the circus owners to extract the children.

Sadly, Laxmi's older brother, Rajkumar, ran away from the rescue party in neighbouring Tamil Nadu state and has not been seen since.

Now I just want to learn a trade like tailoring and get a bit of education Padmini

His mother, Bishnu Maya, who accompanied the rescuers, says he was depressed at having no savings.

She is desperately worried for him.

Since the Palakkad raid, 17 more Nepali children have been rescued from an Indian circus performing in Nepal.

Last year a report on circus children in India was compiled by NCWF, its UK-registered partner the Esther Benjamins Trust and the South Asian Coalition.

At 29 circuses, researchers interviewed 230 children aged between five and 14.

Circus owners have admitted there are up to 500 children in the industry, around half of them Nepali.

Impoverished families

"There's been a catalogue of abuse," says Esther Benjamins Trust director Philip Holmes.

He founded the trust in memory of his wife Esther, who committed suicide out of depression at being childless.

Laxmi (L) was suspended from the ceiling by a rope in her mouth

"There's been regular beatings, sexual abuse and dangers inherent in the acts. We have had a case of one girl being killed; her sister broke her back in a fall."

Khem Thapa, head of NCWF, says Nepali children are targeted because of their fair complexions and because their parents are far away and unlikely to interfere.

Often the parents actually send the children away.

These are always impoverished families who may undervalue education - or may deliberately ignore it, greedy for cash or a remitted salary that may never materialise, says Mr Thapa.

Ironically, an Indian ban on wild animals in circuses has increased the demand for children.

The campaigners say they will encourage the circuses to hand over children "over a reasonable timeframe".

Despite the euphoria, life for the returnees won't be easy.

Mr Holmes says returning girls in particular will be stigmatised as "show girls".

That is one reason why in Hetauda, NCWF is working to raise awareness, expose agents and send such youngsters back to school or find them income-generating opportunities.

"I feel very sad thinking back to all those beatings," Padmini reflects.

"Now I just want to learn a trade like tailoring and get a bit of education."