FIR sought in death of 9-yr-old special child

Ludhiana: A member of the District Child Welfare Committee has written to the Ludhiana Police, alleging Sehyog Halfway Home for Mental Illness, Jamalpur, forcibly sent a nine-year-old boy home after which he died. The complainant also alleged that the child was in need of extra medical care, but the centre had no such facility due to which he was sent back. He demanded an FIR against the superintendent of the home.
The deceased boy is from Nagra village in Samrala. On August 21, he was found dead inside a pond in his village under mysterious circumstances. The complainant, who wished to remain anonymous, said, “There is no medical aid, no counsellors, no psychiatrist to take care of children in need. The child needed special medical attention, so the superintendent of the institute forcibly sent him back. The child is an orphan and has an elderly grandmother. The superintendent forced her to take back the boy.”
“I have written to commissioner of police Rakesh Agarwal for an FIR against the authorities of the child care institute for being negligent. Moreover, they sent the child back without permission of the Child Welfare Committee, which is illegal,” he added.
Superintendent of Sehyog Halfway Home for Mental Illness Kamaljit Singh said, “These allegations are baseless. I did not force anyone to take back the child. After a few months, the kin of children take them home for a few days to spend time with them. The child’s grandmother took him back on her own volition on March 17 and a few days later lockdown was imposed. Therefore, he could not come back to our centre.”
“As far as the facilities are concerned, we have a tie-up with the Mohandai Oswal Hospital, which treats our children on priority and free of cost. Besides, doctors visit our centre every 15 days. We have 16 children, of which six are on leave and 10 are at the centre. When we can take care of other children, why would we send the nine-year-old home?”
A resident of Nagra village, who helped in getting the child admitted in August 2018, said, “The superintendent is quite rude. He used to call us every 15 days to take the boy home. In March too, he forced his grandmother to take him back. He had said he would throw him out on the road if she did not take him back.”
Agarwal said, “The case is being investigated.”