The Uttar Pradesh government on Monday ordered a probe after two dozen girls were rescued from an illegally-run shelter in Deoria, following allegations of mistreatment and sexual abuse of inmates.
Deoria, around 300 km east of Lucknow, is close to Gorakhpur.
Three persons — supervisor of the shelter home Girija Tripathi, her husband Mohan Tripathi and superintendent Kanchalata — were also arrested, while the District Magistrate Sujit Kumar was transferred for laxity.
The conditions at the home came to light when a minor girl, a native of Bettiah in Bihar, escaped from the shelter home and narrated her ordeal to the police, following which a raid was conducted on the premises late on Saturday.
Three-year ordeal
SP Deoria Rohan P. Kanay said the girl who has escaped said she had been ill treated at the shelter home for the past three years and made to serve as a “servant.”
The girl also told the police that some of the older inmates, aged 15-18, were being sexually exploited. According to her, the inmates would be picked up at night in red, white or black cars and dropped at the shelter home the next morning. Some girls were also made to wear naqaabs or veils while being taken away.
“When they returned the next morning, they would not tell us anything but only sobbed,” the girl said.
The actual number of inmates is not clear, with police quoting between 20 and 24 inmates, including three boys. All of them have been sent for medical examinationto verify allegations of sexual abuse and exploitation. ADG law and order Anand Kumar said a case was registered under several sections of IPC, POCSO and JJ Act.
Police said it was also trying to trace the remaining 18 girls who were missing from the shelter home.
Rita Bahuguna Joshi, UP Women and Child Welfare Minister, said the shelter home was running illegally even after the government had last year cancelled its registeration after CBI had found that the shelter home was "not working legally as per norms."
"An order was issued to shift the children but they did not comply," Ms. Joshi said, adding that the shelter home had escaped action for long by approaching the high court.
District probation officer Prabhat Kumar said running the shelter home without approval amounted to charges of trafficking.
Ms. Joshi further said that the shelter home did not have a proper record of the number of inmates and their adoption or movement.
"There were 28 inmates when its registeration was cancelled. The DM does not have any record of the inmates, who came and who went," she said.
Swinging into action, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath transferred Deoria DM Sujit Kumar for failing to shut down the home despite government orders for a year.
Former district probation officer Abhishek Pandey was suspended, while former probation officers stationed there Niraj Kumar and Anoop Singh would face administrative action, a government spokesperson said.
Mr. Adityanath has appointed a two-member committee of additional chief secretary women welfare Renuka Kumar and ADG women helpline Anju Gupta to probe the entire matter. The two were immediately flown down to Deoria and will submit the report by tomorrow.
The CM has also asked all District Magistrates in the state to inspect women and child protection homes and submit a report within 12 hours.
