Children Employed For Spooky Shows At Island Grounds Fair

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THE HORROR BEHIND THE SCENES

Vivek Narayanan & V Ayyappan TNN

March 5, 2009

Chennai: The black, short creature will scare the daylights out of you. But when it removes the hood, you feel sad. Twelve-year-old Kadirvelu is among a dozen children who frighten people for a living. He springs forth at people who walk through the dark alleys inside the ‘horror’ stalls, touted as a ‘thrilling experience’ at the ongoing tourism fair on Island Grounds. In blatant violation of child labour prevention laws, these children are employed by organisers of five stalls – ‘No 13 Peyveedu,’ ‘Drakula’, ‘Thikil Veedu’, ‘Ghost House’ and ‘Mummy’ — to frighten the visitors. While spooky haunting sounds set the ‘ambience’ for your ‘horror’ thrill as you enter the stall, kids who wait in the dark corridors illuminated with flickering colour bulbs, pounce on the visitors, sometimes clinging on to their hands and legs. Some are amused, while many are taken aback and try to hustle the children down impulsively. Kadirvelu’s black dress is dusty from the several falls he endures on his ‘working’ day. On Wednesday afternoon, four children were found waiting outside for visitors to arrive. Whenever visitors come to buy tickets, they rush inside, wear the masks and wait in a corner. “It is fun to frighten people. I earn Rs 30 a day. This way I can supplement my family’s income and also make some money for snacks and tea,” Kadirvelu said. Their day starts by afternoon and goes on till 10 pm, when the fair closes for the day. Satish, a child who has come from Flower Bazaar for the ‘frightening’ work, said: “I bring food from home. Sometimes visitors give me some change with which I go out and have snacks with my friends who are also working here.” According to an employee at a stall, the kids are given food. But, they go without anything to eat for a long time if there is a steady stream of visitors after 5 pm. “We try to grab a bite when the flow of visitors thins down,” one of them said. Campaign Against Child Labour (CAC) convenor Siluvai said: “We have noticed that children are being employed at the fair. Most of them work for food and do not expect pay. We have learnt that these children are, most probably, brought here by brokers from villages. CAC is planning to visit the fair to ascertain the working conditions of these children and carry out an investigation. TTDC MD M Rajaram said: “We will take action if children are deprived of schooling and employed at the stalls. The stalls are run by a contractor, but we will monitor them.” (Names of children have been changed)