At least eighteen million children live or work on the streets of India, laboring as porters in railway stations or bus terminals, as ragpickers, and as vendors of food, tea, or handmade articles. These street children are routinely subjected to arbitrary and illegal detention, torture, and extortion, and on occassion, murder at the hands of police who engage in these violations of international and Indian law with impunity. Overview -- Illegal detention -- Torture -- Extortion -- NGO initiatives to address -- Custodial deaths -- The applicable laws -- Conclusion.