Madhya Pradesh police is investigating allegations of abuse and torture against children at a private orphanage facility in Vijayanagar, Indore. The investigation was launched based on an FIR registered against the women, in the facility, on the complaint by the Child Welfare Committee (CWC). The horrifying tales of abuse, physical and mental torture came forward, reportedly, when the minor kids opened up to CWC officials during a surprise inspection at the facility.
The minor girls said that they underwent horrifying ways of punishment, including branding with hot tongs, hanging them upside down and forced to inhale smoke from burning red chillies.
The local administration had sealed the facility, "Vatsalyapuram", on January 12 for illegal operation after the complaints were raised. The girls in the facility were shifted to the state-run Child Protection Home and another institution, the official said. There were around 21 children in the facility.
FIR was registered against five women of the facility based on the stories narrated by the inmates, aged between four and 14 years.
According to an official, the girl inmates told the CWC that they were tortured in the name of punishment in the premises.
In the FIR lodged on the night of January 17, it was mentioned a four-year-old girl was beaten up for wearing dirty clothes, locked in the bathroom for several hours and not given food for two days, reported PTI.
It was also mentioned in the FIR that the children were hung upside down and forced to inhale smoke from red chillies kept on a hot pan.
However, the NGO, running the facility, Jain Welfare Society, has filed a habeas corpus petition in the Indore bench of the High Court. Vibhor Khandelwal, a counsel for the private institution, told PTI, "Vatsalayapuram is not an orphanage but a standalone hostel where children from economically weaker families are taken care of for an annual fee of just Rs 5."
The allegations mentioned in the FIR was termed false by Khandelwal.
Cases under relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act was registered against the accused.
Accordng to the CWC chairperson, Indore, Pallavi Porwal, the children rescued from the orphange were natives of Rajasthan and Gujarat.
"We have written to the Child Welfare Committees of these states asking them to ascertain the socio-economic background of these children and submit a report to us so that they can be rehabilitated," said Porwal.