HYDERABAD: Allegin gross misconduct on the part of the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) and Bharosa Centres, the aunt of the minor who was sexually assaulted in Maruthi Orphanage in Ameenpur has called for an unbiased and transparent probe into the abuse and death of her niece. “On August 1, my niece was examined at a Bharosa Centre, following which it was established that she was sexually assaulted. Her statement was also recorded.
Yet, the accused was not immediately arrested and there was undue delay in the investigation,” the aunt said. She, along with Telangana Women and Transgender Persons’ and organisations’ Joint Action Committee, pointed out lapses in the probe, during a press conference on Tuesday. The aunt also claimed that her niece did not get proper medical treatment. On August 1, the victim’s family had requested immediate medical treatment for the child. But the Bharosa Centre asked them to take her home. Three days later, on August 3, she was taken to the CWC-Rangareddy for medical care.
The CWC did not immediately get the child admitted to a hospital, and instead got her into an Observation Home at Nimboliadda. “This was a lapse on the part of the CWC amounting to criminal negligence, leading to the death of the child,” said the Joint Action Committee. “From August 3 to 10, they did not let me meet her. It was only when she became critical that I was allowed to see her,” said the aunt. The aunt and over 150 women activists sought a proper probe.
“What happened to my niece should not have happened. I don’t want other girls to go through the same. She had told me that there was another girl in the orphanage who went through similar assaults. Child prostitution was probably a usual practice in Maruti Orphanage.”
Pointing out lapses
The victim’s aunt claimed that her niece did not get proper medical treatment. On August 1, the Bharosa Centre asked the girl’s family to take her home