KENDRAPARA: In another rerun of institutional apathy towards children, a three-year-old child was locked up at an anganwadi centre for five hours on Monday.
The child, Ayushman Mallick of Sasana village under Pattamundai block, had gone to the anganwadi centre but did not return home after the centre was closed on Monday.
His family members searched for him in the evening and contacted anganwadi helper Sulochana Das who went along with the villagers to the centre and found the child unconscious in a room. Ayushman was admitted to a nearby hospital and his condition was stated to be stable.
Sulochana told Ayushman’s parents that the centre was locked after all children left at 1 pm. She admitted that she closed the centre without properly checking the room.
Anganwadi worker was not present in the centre on the day. Tension mounted in the village after the incident. Many agitated parents demanded stern action against the Anganwadi helper.
Four years back, a six-year-old girl was locked up in the classroom of a school by a teacher for six hours. Odisha State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (OSCPCR) had ordered the District Education Officer to pay one-month salary of the teacher to the child’s parents.
Similar cases:
February 2016 Children shut inside Gotamara anganwadi centre in Angul district for over an hour as helper allegedly locked them and went out on some work.
January 2018 Villagers of Bagshai under Jaganathpur panchayat in Jagatsinghpur district rescued a three-year-old child, who was locked up in an anganwadi centre for two hours.