MADURAI: Days after the managing trustee of an orphanage was arrested for sexually exploiting four minor inmates, activists have demanded Child Welfare Committee, District Child Protection Unit and police personnel to conduct frequent inspections at the homes in the district.
Following the arrest of K Adhisivan, Managing Trustee of an orphanage in Samayanallur three employees of the home - manager Selvarani, wardens Angayarkanni and Vanaja Mery - were also arrested for hiding the fact.
Talking to Express, a child rights activist C Jim Jesudass said that most of the staff members in the homes are unqualified. He said that apart from the staff, the board of directors or trustees of the homes should also be brought under the purview of police verification.
He classified the homes in the district in four categories - home with good facilities and good care, those with good facilities and bad care, home with bad facilities and good care and those with bad facilities and bad care. He also said that homes having a good facility and good care are very rare.
“The district administration should make sure that the list of dos and don’ts and the contact numbers of vigilance officials should be displayed in all homes so that in case of any violation, the child could easily alert the persons concerned,” he said.
He further noted that the parents also are responsible for the plight of the child. “Most of the children in the homes have a single parent. In most cases, the parents don’t bother much about their wards when they leave their wards at homes. They should frequently visit the children at home or make the child stay with them,” he said.
Adding to it, a functionary of All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) functionary SK Ponnuthai urged the authorities concerned to bring every corner of the homes under CCTV camera coverage. “In the recent case, the accused had raped the girls inside a room where there is no CCTV camera. The government agencies especially CWC should make sure that the homes are properly following the child protection policy. If the child is taken outside the home they should obtain permission from CWC,” she said.
She further said that most of the members of government agencies are men. “If anything happens, the girl children, on most occasions, won’t be comfortable to reveal the incident to a man. More women members have to be included in the CWC and other government agencies,” she added.
She highlighted that despite CWC members visiting the home in Samayanallur recently, they were unable to find out the exploitation of girls. “This might be because there were more men in the team,” she added. District Chairman of Child Welfare Committee Dr Vijaya Saravanan said that they are planning to form a team comprising members of CWC, NGO (mainly works for rehabilitation and children rights and care) and DCPU.
State secretary of AIDWA SK Ponnuthai and child rights activist Selvagomathi said that the team should also sensitise the children on sexual abuse.