Cuttack/Bhubaneswar: Taking note of the alleged sexual abuse of minor girls at a shelter home in Odisha’s Dhenkanal district, Director General of Police (DGP) R P Sharma on Monday directed the Superintendents of Police (SPs) to submit details about those running in their respective districts.
The DGP in the letter has asked the SPs to provide details about the number of shelter homes running in their district. He has also asked to them verify whether the shelter homes have been registered and submit other details about their modus operandi.
Following the arrest of three employees of the shelter home run by the NGO, Good News India Dream Centre, the Women and Child Development department officials on Monday conducted simultaneous raids at Nandapur under Tihidi block in Bhadrak district, Baliguda in Kandhamal district, Chuliaposi under Udala block and Rairangpur block in Mayurbhanj district.
Meanwhile, the BJP on Monday accused the Good New India Dream Centre of using its shelter homes in the state for religious conversion.
Briefing mediapersons at the party office in Bhubaneswar, president of the BJP Mahila Morcha, Prabhati Parida said the NGO is using its shelter homes to change the religion of the inmates, especially the boys and girls from the tribal community. While the head office of the NGO is in the USA, the governing members of the board are foreigners, she added.
She also alleged that the apart from the minor girls, the minor boys are also being sexually abused in these shelter homes. Apart from the owner and staff, these minors are also subject to sexual abuse by the foreigners who visit these shelter homes also exploit the minor and torture children. “Some of the minor girls have even been trafficked to the neighbouring states and abroad,” she pointed out.
She also said that while the state government has given recognition to the Nandapur shelter home in Bhadrak, the Women and Child Development minister Prafulla Samal has denied any recognition. “The minister should immediately resign on moral grounds owning the responsibility,” Parida said.
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