Coimbatore: After receiving several complaints against a children’s home at Podanur that was run by an NGO, government officials from various departments conducted a joint inquiry on Wednesday.
The team consisting of district differently-abled rehabilitation officer P Chandrasekar, district child protection unit official P Kavitha as well as officers from the labour and revenue departments had visited ‘Families for Children’ in Podanur based on the directions of the district collector. They interacted with the inmates and questioned the staff and administrators. The team will submit a report to the collector on Thursday.
Once named as a child-friendly home, the place, where more than 250 children and adults including differently-abled children were staying, had run into controversy after a male volunteer was accused of sexually abusing female inmates. The 20-year-old volunteer was appointed as a supervisor in the adult girls section of mentally-retarded special care unit. The section accommodates about 30 girls over the age of 18 years. He has been sexually abusing the girls, according to the complaint received by the collector.
Suspicion arose amid the staff when one of the girls started displaying behavioural problems. That’s when they started monitoring her and found out about the abuse. The official team found out that in a bid to restrain the victim, she was separated from the group and kept in a room alone.
According to the complaint, in February, a 17-year-old male inmate had sexually-abused a pre-adolescent girl. “But there was no action from the home authorities and the male inmate was let off,” the complainant said.
The information was passed on to the patrons of the home, who live abroad. Though they instructed the administrators to lodge a police complaint, they did not do so, the complainant alleged.
The officials, who conducted the inquiry, said that the home authorities were refusing to co-operate. “We have been receiving repeated complaints against the home, but the authorities not just refused to co-operate but also threatened us,” said an official.
The officials found that though as per the government norms, a home should have a helper for every five children, ‘Families for Children’ had only two helpers. “We have completed the inquiry at the girls section and will visit the boys’ home as well,” an official in the inquiry team said.
The home authorities were not available for comment.