Raid On Shelter Homes Begins In Odisha

Bhubaneswar: In the wake of the sexual abuse of minors in a shelter home of the NGO, Good News India, in Dhenkanal district, simultaneous raids on all the shelter homes run by the NGO were conducted across Odisha on Tuesday.
According to reports, a joint team comprising members of the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) and the police raided the shelter home at Chuliapasi in Udala block in Mayurbhanj district and vacated all the children. Besides, a total of 144 inmates of the shelter home at Chhatrapur in Ganjam district were shifted to the CWC office. Apart from this, other shelter homes in Berhampur are being verified by the team. The joint team also raided the shelter home at Lathikata in Rourkela.
Meanwhile, Women and Child Development Minister, Prafulla Samal on Tuesday told the media that he has not received any allegations on the video clipping of the Duban ritual (performed for conversion into Christianity). “The department will take stern action against the guilty if there are any allegations,” he said.
The minister also said that investigation is underway to identify unregistered shelter homes.

“Instructions have been given to the Collectors to verify the registration documents of the shelter homes under the Juvenile Justice (JJ) Act and initiate action against those that have been not been registered. The reports of the District Collectors are awaited. Appropriate action would be taken on the basis of the reports,” he added.