GUWAHATI: The owner of an orphanage in Assam has gone into hiding after a teenage girl inmate filed an FIR alleging he had sexually abused her. Two others, reported to be his relatives and accomplices, are also absconding.
The orphanage, Sri Sri Sevashram at Silapathar in Dhemaji district, has 20-odd inmates, including seven-eight girls, all of them aged below 15 years.
The complainant alleged that the owner, Madhav Krishna Goswami, was a habitual offender who often sexually abused girls at the ashram.
“I stayed there for three months and was sexually abused by him and one of his relatives. Two girls fled the ashram a few days ago. I would have fled with them had I not injured my leg. On Sunday night, as he was trying to barge into our room, we all screamed. I managed to flee and took shelter at a neighbour’s house,” the girl said.
Following her allegations, a group of locals staged a protest demanding Goswami’s arrest. “The ashram often organises cultural programmes which are graced by influential people, including senior government officials,” one of them said.
Goswami rubbished the charges and alleged a conspiracy. “Some elements have been demanding money from me for the past two years. As I refused to pay up, they cooked up this story,” he told a TV channel from an undisclosed location.