What the RPF reported
Railway Protection Force officials say 138 children being trafficked into Tamil Nadu were rescued on the Southern Railway network from 2023 through July 2026. Of them, 31 were girls. Thirty-eight people were arrested in trafficking-related cases during the period.
The wider child-rescue picture
Across Southern Railway stations, the RPF says 7,167 children were rescued from vulnerable situations since 2023, including 1,503 girls. The report says children are frequently brought by train from states including Bihar and Jharkhand, often for work in Tamil Nadu.
Why railways matter
Rail corridors are both a trafficking route and a point of intervention. The RPF and child-protection organisations have been running rescue coordination, awareness and prevention programmes at stations.