The orphanage home, Pavitratma Niketan, from which two girls, Rohini and Mariyamma, allegedly went missing, has no license and 18 girls were reportedly kept in it illegally.
District Collector B. Lakshmikanthan directed the Women Development and Child Welfare (WD&CW) Department district Project Director K. Krishna Kumari to close the home immediately.
“The government will hand over the girls staying in Pavitratma Niketan and provide shelter and education for them. A case will registered against the home management,” Ms. Krishna Kumari told The Hindu.
On information about missing of the inmates, District Child Protection Officer (DCPO), Ch. Vijay Kumar, of WD&CW Department visited the home and checked the attendance registers and other documents. “As per records, the home is running since 2009, and all the inmates are kept illegally for many years,” the DCPO clarified.
The home managements should possess the orders of Child Welfare Committee (CWC), appointed by the government, for providing shelter for runaway and abandoned children, sexual, physical abuse and child marriage victims for a short period. But, no minor boy or girl should be kept illegally without CWC orders, and violating the law will lead to detainment, said the DCPO.
“The home management has not obtained license from the government and the inmates were staying without any orders. Rohini has CWC orders given a few years ago for a short stay in Chiguru Home, run by Navajeevan Bala Bhavan, but not for Pavitratma Niketan. We seized the records,” said Mr. Vijay Kumar.
