Sexual Abuse: Minister Orders Closure Of 22 Branches Of Shelter Home

Bhubaneswar/Dhenkanal: Following reports about sexual exploitation of minor girls at a shelter home in Odisha’s Dhenkanal, the state Women and Child Development minister Prafulla Samal on Saturday said that it was running without the prior permission of the government.

“The shelter home was not registered by the government and being operated illegally. Police have arrested the shelter home in-charge and efforts are on to arrest other staff involved in the incident. Apart from this, stern action would be taken against the owner of the shelter home,” Samal told mediapersons in Bhubaneswar.

Stating that the shelter home has 22 branches in the state, the minister said the district collectors have been asked to immediately close down these centres and take necessary steps to rehabilitate the minor children in the nearest child care institutions.

He further said that the minor children of the shelter home will either be rehabilitated in the nearest child care institution or handed over to their parents and guardians.

Following the incident, the local NGOs and civil societies demonstrated before the main gate of the shelter home in the morning by burning tyres and demanding stern action against the owner and the staff.

On the other hand, Dhenkanal sub-collector Pitabas Samal visited the shelter home on Saturday and interacted with the minor girls.

Meanwhile, police have traced the e-mail sent by the internal auditor of the Dream Centre Shelter Home, Pramod Roul, from his office at Phulanakhara in Cuttack. In the e-mail sent by Roul on behalf of the shelter home managing committee on September 24, he had instructed the in-charge of the 22 branches to make sure that the inmate minor girls speak nothing against the owner, Fayaz Rahman, to the investigating teams during their visit. The in-charge of these shelter homes were directed to tutor the children to tell the investigating team that the pastor (owner) is their daddy who takes every care of them.

In the e-mail, specific instructions were given to the in-charge of the shelter home in Rayagada and Kandhamal districts to ensure that not a single inmate minor girl opens her mouth against the owner and the state of affairs at these shelter homes.

On the other hand, the cook of the shelter home in Dhenkanal, Pitabas Digal, told the media on Saturday that the owner used to visit the place once or twice a month and call the grown-up girls to his private room on the first floor (where no one is allowed to enter) of the shelter home where he embraced and kissed them. The owner also used to bring some foreigners to the shelter home.