Child panel, administration rescue 25 children from illegal shelter

AMBALA: The district administration, along with the district child welfare committee (DCWC), on Wednesday rescued 25 children from an illegal children home, operating near Panjokhra in Ambala. The illegal shelter - 'Mercy Home' - was already in question for the last many years after its application to get registered got rejected by a committee, for it failed to meet standards as per the Juvenile Justice (JJ) Act.

As per the officials, the home was accommodating nearly 30 children in seven rooms. Both male and female children were living together.

The manager of the home, Philip Masih, also runs a hardware shop in Ambala Cantonment. He too was living in the same house with his family.

"Philip and his 19-year-old son was living in the same home with kids, which violated the guidelines of the JJ Act . Both girls and boys were living together without any proper arrangements in place," said Baljit Kaur, programme officer at women and child development department.

"We took the children to Civil Hospital in Ambala Cantonment and got their medical examination done. The children will now be shifted to different government-run children homes", said Baljit.

"Out of 25 children rescued, 12 are males. While, five kids are from Ambala, others are from different states. All children have their families, but they were staying here for some reasons.

"We suspect that Philip has brain-washed and made them adopt Christianity," said Gurdev Singh, a member of DCWC.

"Earlier in April 2016, the home was shut down following orders of the DCWC. Later, the DC gave Philip a chance to develop the home as per the norms.

"However, Philip then started misleading the district administration to get his home registered," said Gurdev.

Meanwhile, Gurdev said that the girls would be transferred to children's homes in Balkunj, Chhachhrauli and Yamunanagar and boys would be sent to Haryana State Bal Bhawan in Karnal.