Fourteen children were rescued from a bindi-making sweatshop in the capital Tuesday.

According to a member of the Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA), a child rights NGO that helped the labour department carry out the rescue operation, the boys were trafficked from Bihar to Delhi to work here as bonded labourers.

Akbar, one of the freed children, said: 'I came to Delhi seven months back along with six other children. The man who brought me here on the pretext of sending me to school, then put me in a bindi-making unit. All we got in return was a meal twice a day.'

'We used to sleep in the factory itself. Once when I asked for money, I was told that I am in the learning phase and that I should be the one who should pay my employer for providing the training,' he said.

The bindi-making unit was in northeast Delhi in Seelampur.

All the rescued children will be given release certificates under the Bonded Labour Act, which will entitle them for a compensation of Rs.20,000.