Four persons, including the owners of an unauthorised orphanage in Tirumullaivoyal, were arrested on charges of child sexual abuse.
Though the children have been sexually and physically assaulted for sometime at the home, the crime was reported by the children to judicial magistrates who conducted a legal awareness camp in a nearby government school on Thursday, the police said.
According to the police, Eternal Word Trust runs an orphanage-cum-primary school in Saraswathi Nagar in Tirumullaivoyal near Avadi.
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It was run by C. Jacob, 64, and his wife Vimala Jacob, 58, for two decades.
As many as 48 children in the age group of 3 to 15 years were housed in the orphanage and some of them attended nearby schools.
On Thursday afternoon, Judicial Magistrates — Anitha Ananth, B.Soundarya — presided over a legal awareness camp at a nearby government school where 11 children from the home were studying in various classes.
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When the camp was on, four girls hesitantly approached the magistrates and narrated the ordeal they had been undergoing in the home they were staying.
Immediately, District Child Protection Officer B.Senthil and All woman police station, Avadi Inspector K.Shoba Rani, who were part of the awareness programme, took up the case.
They rushed to the home only to find that it was being run without licence. Nearly 44 children including 24 girls and 20 boys were shifted to other homes.
Warden escapes
Police said G. Babu Samuel, 54, the warden and the main offender, managed to escape.
The owners, Jacob and Vimala Jacob, home manager B. Bhaskar, and R.Muthu, a staff, were arrested.
The Avadi All women police have booked a case under Section 5 (Aggravated Penetrative Sexual Assault); Section 6 (Punishment for aggravated penetrative sexual assault) and Section 17 (Punishment for abetment) of the Protection of Children from Sexual offences Act, 2012.