Illegal detention, torture, sexual assault, and suspected inter-State human trafficking resulting in several inmates vanishing from rehabilitation homes. These are the charges against Anbu Jothi Ashram, an unlicensed home for the mentally challenged, disabled and destitute women, functioning at Kundalapuliyur in Villupuram district since 2005.
Registered under the Nalla Samariyar Charitable Trust, the self-styled ashram has been accommodating destitute women, abandoned senior citizens, beggars, alcohol addicts and mentally challenged people over the years, police sources said.
The ashram has now been shut down on serious charges of torture, sexual exploitation and unleashing monkey attack on inmates confined to chains. While investigators are probing suspected human trafficking after several inmates went missing from the ashram, the owner, Jubin Baby, 45, his wife Maria, 43, of Kerala, and their associates have been arrested on charges of rape and assault.
State authorities have rescued 142 inmates, including many women. While 12 were handed over to their family members, 130 were admitted to Home for the Destitute and Healthcare Centre.
The District Disabled Welfare Office and the police also raided a branch of Anbu Jothi Ashram at Chinnamuthaliarchavady under the Kottakuppam police station limits near Puducherry and rescued 24 inmates, including 12 women. Enquiries revealed 28 men and 14 women were shifted from the ashram to a local hospital for treatment of different ailments.
Missing inmates
Several inmates have allegedly gone missing. While Jubin Baby told the police that he shifted them to Homes in Karnataka and Rajasthan to decongest his premises, investigators found no record for it. Seizure of fake police certificates authorising Home managers in those States to go ahead with disposal of bodies strengthened the suspicion of human trafficking or other possible crimes, the sources said.
Preliminary investigation revealed at least 15 of the 52 inmates, who were moved from the ashram to the New ARK Mission of India, Bengaluru, allegedly escaped. Ironically, the Home authorities did not file a police complaint.
No records found
The police say many such batches of inmates were moved to homes in Karnataka and Rajasthan over the years. Since many had no family or friends, little was known about their existence. Most inmates shifted there were able-bodied and aged between 30-50. The District Disabled Welfare Officer filed a complaint that he suspected trading of inmates.
The issue came to light with Halideen, 49, of Tiruppur lodging a complaint with the Kedar police station in Villupuram on December 17, 2022. In it, he said Jabarullah, 70, admitted to Anbu Jothi Ashram on December 4, 2021, was missing. When he enquired, ashram staff said Jabarullah was among the 52 inmates shifted to Bengaluru. However, the Home manager there claimed the old man and 14 others had escaped.
Bengaluru home director Raju alias Auto Raja informed a visiting Tamil Nadu police team the inmates broke open the bathroom window pane and escaped on March 4, 2022. Halideen filed a habeas corpus petition in the Madras High Court, which directed the police to produce the missing person.
Sexual assault
In another complaint, Ripa alias Ripana, 30, of Kolkata, who had come to the Villupuram bus stand alone four years ago, said an unidentified man helped her get admitted to Anbu Jothi Ashram. Jubin Baby, his wife and others forced her to do kitchen and other work at the ashram and assaulted her if she resisted.
On December 3, 2022, Jubin Baby took her to the branch ashram near Puducherry and allegedly raped her. Another inmate, too, had told her that she was repeatedly raped. To intimidate her, the accused allegedly let loose a ferocious monkey in her room which bit her, resulting in her hospitalisation.
In another complaint on February 15, 2023, S. Natarajan, 68, of Sankarankoil, alleged his visually impaired cousin Lakshmi Ammal, 80, and her mentally challenged son Muthuvinayagam, 48, admitted to the ashram on August 11, 2021, were missing.
Gadgets seized
The police were startled to find fake letters in the name of the local sub-inspector authorising the ashram management to dispose of the bodies of inmates. They found many incriminating materials that might have been used to torture inmates. Computers, storage devices and electronic gadgets were seized for forensic analysis, the sources said.
A police officer said that besides people voluntarily admitting mentally challenged, aged people and destitute women to the ashram, the accused went around in an ambulance in the northern districts and picked up wandering lunatics. The police also apprehended beggars and handed them over to the home on a few occasions, hoping that they would be rehabilitated.
Many inmates claimed that soon after admission, they would be thrashed by the staff daily to induce a sense of fear. The able bodied would be chained and beaten up and then given some medicine regularly that would make them mentally and physically weak.
“In a few months, even the healthy inmates would be reduced to a vegetable. Jubin Baby would then identify a group of inmates to be shifted to Karnataka or Rajasthan... Their status thereafter would never be known... Why they were shifted and the circumstances under which they went missing are being probed. Investigators are working with the Karnataka police,” the officer told The Hindu.
Incidentally on January 11, Health Minister Ma. Subramanian and Greater Chennai Police Commissioner Shankar Jiwal accorded a send-off to 160 destitute persons of north Indian origin rescued under the ‘Kaaval Karangal’ project. They boarded an express train to Rajasthan for rehabilitation and reunion with their families, to be facilitated by a non-governmental organisation in Rajasthan. Police sources said Anbu Jothi Ashram was one of the NGOs involved in the programme.
Published - February 17, 2023 10:29 pm IST
