HYDERABAD: A 19-year-old boy, who has been abusing four minor girls at a welfare home run by a church pastor at Pragati Nagar, under KPHB police station limits, was arrested by the police on Saturday. Nandru Shyam Kumar, who resides in a house adjacent to the welfare home, has been abusing the girls for many days. Meanwhile, the Medchal District Child Welfare Unit sealed the home run by the pastor, as it was being run without government permission for the past eight years.
According to police, a couple of days ago, the Childline received a call from a citizen on it’s toll-free number 1098, about the abuse the girl’s were going through. Based on the complaint, an inquiry was conducted and after verifying with the girls, all who are in the age groups of 13 to 15, a complaint was lodged at KPHB police station. A case under charges of Word, Gesture or Act intended to insult the modesty of a woman and section 12 of the POCSO Act was registered and Shyam was arrested. The girls were also rescued and shifted to a care home at Nimboli Adda.
S Laxmi Narayana, Inspector KPHB, said that the boy jumped over the wall and often abused the girls.
Inquiries by the Child Welfare Department revealed that the home was running at the location for the past eight years and the pastor who had been running a church, opened a home for orphans, where he gave shelter to the four girls, who belonged to different places in erstwhile Rangareddy district. They were admitted to a nearby school.
It was also found that the pastor got to know about Shyam harassing the kids and warned him to stay away. The pastor also informed Shyam’s parents but the latter’s abuse did not stop.