'Minors burnt, hung upside down': Orphanage in India's Madhya Pradesh under scanner for child abuse

The police in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh have opened a probe against an orphanage over allegations of child abuse. As many as 21 children have alleged horrific abuse after the state Women and Child Welfare Department conducted a surprise inspection at the private institution for minor girls.

According to the police, the children were subjected to extreme torture that included burning their skin using hot tongs and being forced to inhale red chilli smoke as punishment.

"The children told the team that they were hung upside down, branded with hot iron and photographed after being stripped," the officials said, adding that the facility housed orphans from Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Odisha, and Madhya Pradesh.

The facility is run by the Vatsalyapuram Jain Trust, which manages at least 13 such orphanages nationwide including in Bengaluru, Jodhpur and Kolkata. Notably, the trust has not been registered under the Juvenile Justice Act.

The Child Welfare Committee (CWC) said it had received intel about the abuse going on in the institution and decided to investigate.

“We formulated a team on orders of the district collector and got inputs that this orphanage was abusing children," Child welfare committee chairperson Pallavi Porwal was quoted as saying byThe Indian Express.

“Some people who celebrated their birthdays at this orphanage with the children later made allegations of abuse on social media. We followed that up," he said further.

FIRregistered

According to CWC memberSangeeta Chaudhary, there were 25 girls registered at the orphanage but only 21 were present on the day of the raid.

"There was no security at the gates, no visitors’ register. The facility officials claimed they are an orphanage. But later, the parents of the children turned up,” Chaudhary alleged.

An FIR has been registered against five employees of the institution and a probe is underway.

"A four-year-old child was locked in the bathroom and not given food for two-three days after he defecated in his pants," the FIR read.

(With inputs from agencies)