The District Child Protection Unit (DCPU) in Madurai has been blamed for failing to prevent sexual abuse of 11 girls in an orphanage near Usilampatti here despite officials closing it down for lack of approval a year before.
G. Devapitchai, 69, who was managing Sun Light Orphanage, was arrested last Friday under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act for rape after one of the 11 girls residing there, all aged below 16, reported that he had been sexually abusing her for years.
According to DCPU officials, enquiries with other girls revealed that all the girls were subjected to some form of abuse by him.
The 11 girls were rescued and lodged in a hostel of the government-aided school where they are studying.
Without approval
The 11 girls were among the 18 children rescued from the home when it was closed down last year.
The officials said that while all 18 children were put up in the school hostel, 11 were brought back to the hostel by Devapitchai after convincing their parents.
Questions have been raised about the failure of revenue, police and DCPU officials in ensuring that the home remained shut. Rani Chakravarthy, a Madurai-based child psychologist and activist, said when an incident happens, children immediately need ‘crisis counselling.’
“At that time, the children will be in shock and will not know whom to trust and hence may not reveal all the problems,” she said.
“That is why at least a few counselling sessions and follow-ups are required, which the District Child Protection Unit failed to provide,” she alleged.
