The Sessions court on Thursday convicted six of the eight accused in the Kavdas orphanage case, including the owner, of sexually assaulting, raping and starving 18 mentally challenged children, five of them girls.
The Principal Sessions Judge Shalini Phansalkar-Joshi awarded life imprisonment to the owner, Pundlik Gole. “He was the guardian of the children, as they had complete faith in him. He has breached the trust of the children,” she said while announcing the sentence. Mr. Gole’s wife Shailaja alias Sakshi too was sentenced to seven years in jail. “The sexual abuse continued for a sustained period of time, knowing that the children are mentally challenged.” Ms. Phansalkar-Joshi said no leniency should be shown to the accused so that it would send an appropriate message to the society at large. The atrocities against the children came to light in 2010 through several news reports.
The Child Welfare Panel, which rescued the 18 inmates from the orphanage, found that the owner had sexually abused most of them.
