Jagatsinghpur: A team of the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) and Child Helpline rescued five children from a madrasa, which was allegedly running illegally at a village in Odisha’s Jagatsinghpur district.
Sources said the children, aged between five and ten years, were staying in the madrasa at Dhanipur village under the jurisdiction of Jagatsinghpur police station.
After receiving complaints about children being forcibly kept in madrasas operating in the district illegally without official recognition, the police alerted the CWC to conduct an investigation.
A team of the CWC and Child Helpline, led by CWC chairperson Sankutala Chaudhury, conducted a raid at a madrasa at Dhanipur and rescued five children, TNIE reported.
After verifying their identity documents, including Aadhaar cards, the committee found that the children were from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
The team also examined the institution’s records and directed its authorities to submit detailed documents regarding its functioning.
The maulvi of the madrasa, Daulat Khan, was quoted in the report as saying that the institution has been running for the last one year and the five children have been studying there since the beginning.
All expenses, including food, are borne by the head of the madrasa and the children are being taught Urdu, Hindi, English and religious subjects he added.
A senior police official said that the CWC has rescued five children on Saturday and necessary action will be taken once s detailed inquiry report is received.
District child protection officer Kanhu Charan Rout said steps were taken for the repatriation of these children to their respective native states.