KOCHI: Three young boys, allegedly held captive by parents at their home at Mannanam in North Paravur for the past 10 years denying them proper education, were rescued by child welfare authorities on Tuesday.
After a day’s effort by the authorities concerned led by tahsildar, father Abdul Latheef and mother Lekha agreed to abide by District Collector’s order to release the children from their custody.
The boys, aged nine, 11 and 12, were handed over to the Child Welfare Committee (CWC). A case was registered against the parents.
“A directive has been issued to the CWC to take care of the children. The North Paravur police has been asked to register a case. Further action will be taken against the parents based on the inquiry report,” said Collector K Mohammed Y Safirulla.
The couple and their children have been staying on the first floor of their double-storey building along the main road in North Paravur.
Office of an organisation, P M Mohammed Ali Foundation For Human Rights and Social Justice, set up by Latheef’s father the late Mohammed Ali, functions on the ground floor.
The incident came to light when local panchayat officers and health workers visited the house for immunisation dosage a few days ago.
The couple refused to interact with them. Based on local residents’ complaint, the District Legal Services Authority officers reached the house to inquire about the illegal confinement of the children in squalid conditions.
Though the officers and a police team tried to contact with the parents, they refused.
O K Dineshan of Mananam in North Paravur has never seen children of his immediate neighbour Abdul Latheef though he has been living there for over 10 years. Latheef and his wife Lekha have never interacted with him or other neighbours. Neither Dineshan nor the panchayat members in the area know anything about the office of P M Mohammed Ali Foundation for Human Rights and Social Justice working in the ground floor of the double storeyed building in which Latheef and his family have been staying for all these years.
“The building and the property belonged to Latheef’s father Mohammed. We have not seen anyone coming to the office. They don’t even open the windows of the building,” said Kottuvally Panchayat Member P N Santhosh. “It’s really surprising how this family managed to live a secluded life in a thickly populated area,” Santhosh added.
“It was in mid 2000 that the family moved to the building along with their two children. We believe that the third son was born after they came here. We don’t know nothing much about them. The children were not even allowed to peep through the window. Rarely, a relative visited them. We don’t know the income of the family,” said panchayat health standing committee chairperson Lissie Raphel. Another neighbour said that Latheef was well-studied and he used to take tuition classes for tenth standard students at his ancestral home in North Paravur.
“Earlier, he used to be a highly interactive person.
But gradually he withdrew to himself and started to live in isolation. Latheef’s relatives, except for his elder brother who used to visit him, do not have any idea about the activities of the family,” he said. Panchayat member Santhosh said the elder brother refused to part with any details of the family.
North Paravur Sub Inspector K A Sabu said they have launched an inquiry. “As of now, we don’t have any information about the foundation functioning in the ground floor of the building. As per the initial details, Latheef’s father Mohammed Ali served in the Fire Force wing,” he said.