BHOPAL: Days after the local administration rescued 21 minor girls from an illegal children’s hostel in Indore’s posh Vijay Nagar area, an unimaginable saga of the alleged torture has come to the fore.
An FIR was lodged at the Vijay Nagar police station under IPC Section 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and Section 75 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act against the head and staff members of the concerned orphanage which was being run sans any permission.
The FIR has been lodged on the basis of a report filed before the local police by the district Child Welfare Committee, which has detailed in the report about the torture unleashed by the hostel staff.
As per the report, the girls were subjected to torture, including being hung upside down, tortured with red chilly smoke, stripped and photographed, and branded with hot iron tongs for minor mistakes.
“Based on the report and complaint by the CWC which mentions cruelty on the children at the orphanage/hostel, an FIR has been lodged against the alleged offenders under IPC Section and provision of JJ Act at Indore’s Vijay Nagar police station and further investigations are underway,” additional DCP (Indore Zone-II) Amrendra Singh said.
Meanwhile, the children’s home concerned petitioned the Madhya Pradesh High Court, challenging the local administration’s action against it. “The Vatsalyapuram Welfare Society runs a hostel in Vijay Nagar which was inspected by the local administration on January 12 night, after which the 21 girls were shifted from the concerned hostel to the children care home.
This action was initiated without passing any order, giving the children’s hostel any opportunity of hearing nor informing the parents of the girls,” the concerned orphanage/hostel’s advocate Jayesh Gurbani said. He added, “We moved the High Court the next day (January 13), after which the HC directed the administration to file a reply and listed the matter for hearing on January 17.”
The 21 girls rescued from the facility on January 12 night, included five orphans and 16 single parent daughters. They hail from Indore and Rewa in MP, besides other states, including Odisha, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan.