Police have arrested three persons associated with a shelter home at Beltikiri in Dhenkanal district, and shifted the minor residents staying there following allegations of sexual abuse and violation of the Juvenile Justice Act. The Odisha shelter home was also found to be running without proper clearances.
The chairman of the organisation running the shelter home, Faiz Rehman, caretaker Simanchal Naik and assistant director Udit Lima have been arrested and the children shifted to the Maharshri Dayananda Service Mission (MDSM) Child Care Institution located 22 km away.
There were 47 girls and 33 boys staying at the Good News Media Dream Centre shelter home in Dhenkanal. On the directions of Collector Nikhil Pawan Kalyan, they were sent to the MDSM shelter where police personnel have been deployed.
Police sources said the Good News Media Dream Centre did not have the requisite clearances and was operating illegally.
A delegation of the BJP went to meet the children on Sunday but the district administration did not allow them to.
Questions were raised as to how it was functioning without valid papers, and that too after DGP Dr R P Sharma had issued direction to all districts a few months ago to verify and inspect shelter homes across the state and shut down any unauthorised one. Apprehensions of any case like Bihar’s Muzaffarpur shelter home, where a case of alleged sexual assault on 34 minor girls had come to light earlier this year, had prompted the government to carry out the checks.
A few inmates of the Dhenkanal shelter had alleged mental and physical torture two days ago, leading to inspections by the child welfare committee. In their initial statements, officials said there was no formal complaint of sexual abuse but the shelter home was found to have no proper documentation and clearances.
On Sunday, a delegation of the BJP women wing led by Pravati Parida visited the Beltikiri shelter home. The children had been shifted from there by then. They group then tried to enter the Maharshri Dayananda Service Mission Child Care Institution to meet the children but the police did not allow them to do so. They had a heated exchange with the district collector after which the BJP women activists staged a protest for a brief while raising slogans against the government.
On Friday, some of the girl inmates at the Beltikiri shelter home had alleged before mediapersons that they were being sexually harassed.
The reports spread like wildfire prompting Child Welfare Committee member Banumati Pany, District Child Protection Officer Anuradha Goswami, and District Legal Services Authority Secretary Arun Patnaik to rush to the shelter home.
According to official sources, home caretaker Simanchal Naik had lodged a written complaint on 16 November before the CWC that girls were sexually abused by organisation chief Faiz Rahman. CWC had directed the organisation to submit case records and list of children with details on 24 November, but this was not done.
The CWC had issued a show cause notice to Faiz Rahman on 27 November with a copy to the district child protection officer for necessary action.
Later, DCPO Goswami visited the spot on 29 November and lodged a complaint at the Sadar police station against the organisation saying the child care organisation was not registered under the J J Act and so necessary action be taken.