Shocking Video of Child Abuse at Chhattisgarh Adoption Centre Goes Viral, NGO Suspended

A distressing video capturing a woman brutally thrashing two children at an adoption center operated by an NGO in Chhattisgarh's Kanker district has gone viral on social media. As a result, the district collector has called for the registration of a police case and suspended the NGO's operation of the facility, according to officials on Monday.

The video, believed to be from CCTV footage, depicts a woman assaulting a girl, gripping her by the hair and violently throwing her onto the floor. She then lifts the girl, tosses her onto a bed, and continues to mercilessly beat her. The woman in the video proceeds to call another girl forward, placing her on the bed and subjecting her to the same brutal treatment.

The woman in question has been identified as Seema Dwivedi, the superintendent of the 'Visheshkrit Dattak Grahan Agency' (Specialized Adoption Agency or SAA) run by Pratigya Vikas Sanstha, officials have confirmed. The SAA primarily houses orphaned children below the age of six.

Following the video's emergence on Saturday, the Directorate of the State's Women and Child Development, responsible for overseeing the operations of such facilities, was instructed to submit a report, stated Kanker Collector Priyanka Shukla.

''A team from the state Women and Child Development department visited the center on Sunday, conducted an inspection, and submitted a report to me today. As a preliminary measure, the NGO has been suspended from operating the center, and the local police have been directed to file a First Information Report (FIR) against Dwivedi,'' Shukla explained.

In the inspection report submitted to Shukla by WCD Director Divya Umesh Mishra, it was affirmed that the complaint of assault on children in SAA Kanker was valid. The report called for an FIR against Dwivedi under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015.

Additionally, Mishra's report recommended the immediate suspension of the NGO's operation of SAA Kanker, as well as the cancellation of the NGO's registration. The report also suggested disciplinary action against Reena Ladia, the District Child Protection Officer.

During the inspection on Sunday, as stated in the report, Dwivedi admitted that the video clip belonged to SAA Kanker and claimed the incident had occurred approximately a year ago.

''Dwivedi stated that she had assaulted the two girls at the facility due to her impaired mental state at that time. She further revealed that despite repeated warnings, one of the girls had been accepting chocolates from unidentified individuals while returning from the Anganwadi center,'' the report highlighted.

According to the report, Dwivedi expressed remorse for her actions and asserted that such an incident had never been repeated at the facility. The shocking incident has sparked widespread outrage, emphasizing the urgent need for stricter measures to protect vulnerable children and ensure their well-being in adoption centers.