BHUBANESWAR: The Commissionerate Police on Tuesday detained the owner of shelter home Asha Kiran in Jatni on charges of torturing minor inmates. The allegations came to fore after a team of Child Welfare Committee (CWC) led by Khurda District Child Protection Officer (DCPO) conducted a probe. There were around 50 children at Asha Kiran who were shifted to a safe house in the City on Thursday. Their statements have been recorded by the CWC team. Sources said the children have mentioned that they were subjected to torture and forced to do menial jobs at the shelter home.
The probe team submitted a report to the district Collector following which a complaint was registered with Jatni police. DCP Satybrata Bhoi said the reports are being examined and the shelter home’s owner will be interrogated. No arrests have been made in this connection so far, he said.
The incident came to light after a 15-year-old Bangladeshi boy escaped from the shelter home last week and was rescued in Puri. The minor boy revealed before the Puri CWC that he ran away from the place because of the physical punishment meted out to him. The boy had also sustained injuries.