NILGIRIS: Nilakottai police on Thursday questioned Augustine, the managing trustee of Love Shore, a care centre for people with mental health issues at Kunthaladi that was sealed recently for violations, his wife Gracy and a nurse Elizabeth. Sources said police are also inquiring allegations that some women inmates were sexually assaulted and that organs were stolen from some others.
Based on a complaint from the VAO of Nelliyalam Shanmugam that Augustine had buried 20 people within 200 metres from the centre without informing anybody, Nilakottai police registered a CSR and Devala DSP Saravanan questioned Augustine and others on Thursday.
Nilakottai inspector Selvakumari told TNIE the inquiry has not been completed and no case registered yet. The bodies are likely to be exhumed on Friday to find if they were inmates.
Sources said the centre has been functioning for 23 years but did not renew licence for the last 18 years. This came to light during an inspection on Tuesday following which the centre was sealed and 13 inmates were shifted to Coimbatore.
Sources in Nilgiris district administration said no relative contacted officials or visited the inmates in Coimbatore. The officials said all 13 inmates are destitutes from Kerala.
Augustine used to run chips manufacturing company two decades ago. He completed Siddha course in Kerala, and started Love Shore and a similar centre in Kerala. “The inmates were not properly treated for their illness. The centre was registered as a trust in 1999 with four members, including Augustine,” said an official from the differently abled department.