Child Tags in Tirumala

Tirupati, January 02: Last week, an 18-month old child was kidnapped and later rescued by the police in world s richest temple Tirupati. In a bid to prevent child abductions in Tirupati Tirumala Devasthanam, police have introduced ‘child tags’ in the premises of Tirumala.

According to police, every child who enters the temple will be tagged with details of his/her parent or guardian, who is accompanying the child. A similar identity card will be given to the adult as well. As people are exiting the temple, the cards will be checked by the police to verify if the adult accompanying the child is indeed the one who came in with them.

This new rule has been implemented since Tuesday, confirmed Tirupati Superintendent of Police, Anburajan to TNM. “The process has already started. Before leaving the temple premises, the police security would cross check the identity to confirm if the child is along with their parent indeed or their guardian. If there is a mismatch, they would be caught. At the entry point of the gate, the cards would be issued. The same needs to be returned before they leave. No one can leave the exit without showing their card.”

Presently, these identity cards are handwritten. Police are temporarily making it goofproof by making the process digital. "We are thinking of introducing digital unique cards with magnetic code etc. with the help of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam, but we need to discuss with the stakeholders before taking such a step," the SP said.

Besides this new initiative, police teams would be keep a abservance across the temple to avoid any attempts to abduct children. The temple also has around 600 CCTVs for surveillance.