B'lore shamed by abuse; 41 kids rescued from city orphanage

Bangalore, Mar 1: In a piece of news that could bring much shame to the IT city of Bangalore, as many as 41 children were rescued from the clutches of offenders who are understood to have traumatized and abused the children at an orphanage called the Church of Christ – Home for the Orphans & Widows in Chalghatta.

The victimized children, 22 girls and 19 boys were rescued in a midnight raid by officials from the Child Rights Commission, the Child Welfare Committee, Child Helpline and the City police. The raids were carried out late night on Wednesday.

The police sprung into action following a call from a distressed child. The perpetrators of the heinous crime are believed to be a father-son duo, Williams and John Charles who have been involved in this racket since the last 25 years. They have been getting huge donations from USA and they have been arrested by the police under the Juvenile Justice Act and the Indian Penal Code. The orphanage has also been sealed.

CRC Chairperson Nina Nayak has been quoted as saying, "There are no records of admission or parental details of the children. The children have been violated physically and sexually." As per reports, the injuries on the bodies of the children were seen by CRC and CWC members. They also found canes by which the children were assaulted on a daily basis. The girls also claimed that they were touched inappropriately by Charles often. Only recently, a three and a half year old girl died due to high fever and her death was covered up.

Ms Nayak added, "They have Rs 32 lakh in the FCRA account in the SBI Vimanapura branch. But there are no receipts and no records of the children, who told us that though a lot of donation was received in kind from corporate houses and individuals, nothing was ever given to the children." According to claims made by Charles, the Church of Christ Society had clearance under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act – FCRA, but no receipt of donations received were maintained.

Williams is allegedly a member of the ‘Church of Christ Society’ that is registered under the Societies Act and is operating orphanages in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu without government license. Charles claimed to be ignorant on the need to register with the Department of Women and Child Development for running such institutions. There is no information on the children's parents, most of them being single mothers who have left the kids under the care of the orphanages.

The rescued girls have been sent to an NGO called Apsa, while the boys are lodged with a Child Helpline.

OneIndia News