A former Army man, who is the owner of a shelter home in Bhopal, has been arrested after the inmates complained against him of sexual abuse. The sexual abuse and torture even resulted in the death of three children who are inmates of the shelter home, according to the complainants.
More than 35 inmates of Sai Disabled Home in Bairagarh suburban locality of Bhopal registered their complaint at the Director of social welfare department, which is funding the shelter home. They said five inmates, including three males and two females, were sexually abused by the 70-year-old M.P. Awasthi.
Later, the inmates, accompanied by Congress leader Shobha Ojha, went to T.T. Nagar police station where an FIR was registered after a delay of eight hours. All the inmates of the shelter home had to camp inside the police station to get the FIR registered under section 376, 377,354, 323, 506 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code. Following the FIR registration, the girl inmates were sent for medical examination late at night.
The police later arrested Awasthi who has been alleged to have committed similar crimes when he ran a shelter home in Hoshangabad district, 70 kilometres from Bhopal.
Congress leader Ojha claimed that Awasthi’s NGO was blacklisted last year. Yet, it was awarded financial aid by the government. Awasthi retired from the Army in 1990 and had started an ashram for disabled children. He ran four such shelter homes for the speech-hearing impaired, and the orphans. "Awasthi had support and protection from the government and a few from the ruling party. That is why, even after a complaint of sexual abuse by a girl last year, the organisation continued to get government grant," claimed Ojha.
The speech and hearing impaired inmates of the shelter home also addressed a press conference through sign language expert and social worker Shradha Shukla. They said that three of their companions died in the shelter home due to physical torture meted out on them by the director. The matter was exposed when one of the inmate sent a WhatsApp message to Shukla. However, their claim on the death of three children is yet to be substantiated.
In a written complaint, one of the victims said she was repeatedly raped by Awasthi between 2010 and 2017. She said that Awasthi used to exploit her every Saturday. Another victim showed her bruised hand, while male children complained of sodomy.
This is the second such case in last two months in Bhopal. Earlier, Ashwini Sharma, the director of another NGO, was accused by three girls of raping them over a period of time.
