Members of the Muslim Orphanage Old Students Welfare Association on Tuesday alleged that a 10-year-old inmate was sexually assaulted by a staff member on January 31.
Addressing presspersons here Tuesday, association general secretary Mohammed Sayeed and Bangalore North Global Human Rights Organisation president Ayub Khan accused the orphanage authorities of trying to suppress the facts.
“The most exploited in all aspects are the girl inmates. The orphanage has failed miserably in making a success out of even a single inmate as most drop out of school, unable to tolerate the exploitation,” Mr. Ayub Khan alleged.
Referring to the incident in question, he said: “We have filed a complaint with the police on February 7 and the culprit, the orphanage’s storekeeper, has been arrested. However, this is not the only case reported. A CID or CBI enquiry should be conducted.”
Recalling the previous cases, he alleged that a 10-year-old girl was murdered at the orphanage on November 30 in 2010. The child’s mother, who was present at the press conference, said the chief warden had slammed the heads of two inmates against the wall. “While the other girl survived, my daughter died. Although [the warden] told us the two girls had a fight in which my daughter had sustained serious injuries, we learnt from eyewitnesses that the warden had done it. Although a police complaint had been filed, there has been no action.”
Mr. Ayub Khan alleged that another 10-year-old girl had gone missing from the orphanage on December 3, 2010 while a 16-year-old boy had died after he was denied timely medical treatment.
He said while there was no dearth of funds, the living conditions were horrible and facilities provided to inmates minimal.
Reacting to the allegation, the administrator, H.S. Ismathulla Khan told The Hindu the police are enquiring into the sexual assault case. “Although the girl has given different versions on different occasions and the medical reports are also negative, we dismissed the accused person. We have also informed the Wakf Board and the issue is likely to be discussed in the next meeting,” he said.
