Thaindian News

Navi Mumbai, March 4 (IANS) Three officials of a children’s NGO were detained here after a child rights protection committee filed a report of misconduct against it, an official said.

“We have taken into custody three members of the NGO Kalyani Mahila and Balak Seva Sanstha located in the Kalamboli township,” a police official said.

Following a report filed by the State Coordination Committee for Child Protection, the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) investigated the matter and found that the inmates of the NGO, mostly mentally challenged girls, were mistreated and went through alleged sexual abuse by outsiders.

“The state coordination committee for child protection is a five-member committee appointed in August last year to look through orphanages and children’s NGOs,” said Asha Bajpai, who heads the committee.

The committee had then appointed six divisional committees for various regions of the state.

“While our Mumbai-Konkan committee was conducting a search at this NGO in Kalamboli, they found that the inmates lived in bad conditions,” Bajpai said.

“The caretaker of the house, where around 19 mentally challenged girls stayed, were deaf and mute. There was not a single security guard in the premises,” she added.

Bajpai also mentioned that as per the norms, outsiders are allowed to visit such NGOs only at a given time. “But there were no laid out rules for visitors here. Anyone came to this place at their free will,” she said.

With most girls at the NGO being deaf and mute apart from being mentally challenged, Bajpai had expressed her concern over the safety and security of the inmates to the CWC.