LUCKNOW: Around 40 minor girls, aged between nine and 14 years, were found locked inside a toilet of an unregistered madrassa in Bahraich district of central UP, officials said on Thursday.
According to Sub-Divisional Magistrate of Payagpur Ashwini Kumar Pandey, the girls were located during an inspection. He claimed that the district administration had received repeated complaints regarding the functioning of an illegal madrassa inside a three-storey building in Pahalwara village under Payagpur tehsil.
Pandey said that the team of officials went to the madrassa building for an inspection on Wednesday. The madrassa operators initially tried to stop them from going upstairs. “With accompanying police authorities, as we entered the premises, we found the toilet on the terrace locked," he said.
When the door was opened by female police personnel, the 40 girls hiding inside came out one by one. The girls looked frightened and were unable to say anything clearly, said the SDM.
The SDM said District Minority Welfare Officer Mohammad Khalid was asked to verify the registration and legality of the institution. According to Khalid, locals said that the madrassa had been running for around three years without registration.
"The management and staff could not produce any document related to registration or legality. During the 2023 survey, 495 unregistered madrassas were identified in Bahraich and it appears this one escaped the survey team's notice then," said the SDM.
"During questioning, when the management staff was asked about the girls hiding inside the toilet despite there being eight rooms in the madrassa, a teacher Takseem Fatima said the girls panicked in the commotion and locked themselves inside," added Khalid.
He said the madrassa records were being examined, and orders were issued to shut it down. "The management has been told to send the girls safely to their homes and it seems all have now reached back home," Khalid said.
Additional Superintendent of Police Ramanand Prasad Kushwaha said no FIR was registered so far. "The parents, SDM, or the minority welfare officer has not approached us for lodging a case so far. If any complaint is received, appropriate legal action will be taken," he said.