Pandemic threatens India’s children with child labor rising

LUCKNOW, India (AP) — A boy who cried out when he was beaten for complaining of stomach pains drew attention from a passerby, who alerted police in the central Indian city of Agra. Officers broke a padlock on the gate of the illegal shoe factory where the boy was working and found a dozen children, aged 10-17. With classrooms shut and parents losing their jobs in the pandemic, thousands of families are putting their children to work to get by,…