Couple among three held for sexually exploiting shelter home girls

RATLAM: Three persons, including a couple, were Thursday arrested for allegedly sexually exploiting, assaulting and manhandling girls of a shelter home in Jaora town in the district, a senior official said.

The arrested include former president of Kundan Kuteer Balika Grah (shelter home) and her husband, she said.

Efforts were on to nab the current president of the shelter home as he is also an accused in the case, Ratlam district collector Ruchika Chouhan told reporters here.

"Chairperson of Ratlam district Bal Kalyan Samiti and ex-president of Kundan Kuteer Balika Grah Rachna Bharti, her husband Om Prakash Bharti and secretary Dilip Barriya were arrested on the charges of sexual exploitation, physical assault and manhandling of the inmates," she told reporters.

"The current president of the shelter home, Sandesh Jain, is also accused in the case and efforts are on to nab him," she added.

The trio was booked under relevant sections of the IPC as well as the POCSO Act, Chouhan said. Five inmates of the shelter home had escaped on January 24 by breaking the ventilation window of the toilet.

However, they were later found at Mandsaur's police line area. Jaora Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM) later conducted a probe into the incident.

"In the probe, the SDM found that the inmates were sexually exploited, physically assaulted and manhandled. After that action was taken against those associated with the shelter home," she said.

The collector said all 25 inmates of the shelter home were shifted to Ratlam district's One Stop Centre. From there, they would be shifted to Ujjain's Balika Grah facility.

She said a proposal has been forwarded to the divisional commissioner to suspend Ravindra Mishra, assistant director of Women and Child Development Department, for his alleged negligence in the case.

"Proposal to suspend Rachna Bharti from the post of chairman of the district Bal Kalyan Samiti was also sent to the government," the official added.