BHUBANESWAR: A 12-year-old girl allegedly engaged as a domestic help at the house of retired IAS officer Dinanath Panda in IRC Village was rescued by Childline and Nayapalli police on Monday. Panda was the collector of Ganjam between December, 1992 and April, 1995.
Acting on a tip-off, Childline officials rescued the minor girl. A complaint has been lodged against Panda, his son and daughter-in-law at Nayapalli police station. Panda’s son works as a professor at a law university in Hyderabad and his daughter-in-law runs an English medium school in IRC Village.
As per initial investigation, the girl was trafficked from her village in Berhampur in November, 2020 and engaged as a domestic help. Her father is a rickshaw puller and mother works as a domestic help. The girl was studying in Class V when she was brought to Bhubaneswar, said Bhubaneswar Childline director Benudhar Senapati.
She was produced before Additional Child Welfare Committee here and sent to an open shelter run by Vishwa Jeevan Seva Sangha. “We have also reported the matter to Odisha State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, Khurda district child protection officer and Bhubaneswar DCP for further investigation”, said Senapati.A case has been registered and investigation is on.