Sonkatch (Madhya Pradesh): A case was registered against in-charge of the Nirmala boys' hostel Father Naveen Denny Balraj, and Nirmala girls’ hostel sister Jali in Sonkatch after various discrepancies were detected during an inspection by in-charge tehsildar Lakhanlal Sunaniya, WCD project officer Praveen Kumar Jain, block education officer (BEO) Harisingh Bharti and police.
The duo was booked under Section 75 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, and Section 3(1)(i) in the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 by the Sonkatch police. A copy of the FIR is available with the Free Press.
On February 6, a team led by Jain and Bharti had inspected Nirmala Boys and Girls Hostel and detected gross irregularities. A panchnama was prepared. On Wednesday, a show cause notice was issued. Following lack of response, Jain registered a case at Sonkach police station on the instructions of SDM Sandeep Shiva.
Both Hostels running without registration As per reports, both Boys and Girls Hostels were operating without registration with education department and women and child development. As per the show cause notice, 88 boys were residing in boys’ hostel and 63 girls in girls’ hostel. The hostel inmates were studying in St Anthony Rakul from class 3 to class 12.
Among hostel inmates, no written consent was taken from parents of nine, including eight boys and a girl, nor affidavit obtained from the parents. Eight boy inmates left hostel without information, but the hostel administration never informed the police.
Besides, hostel incharge never cared to get written information from parents that these eight children had reached home safely. Along with this, the hostel also lacked Gumastha documentation from Sonkatch Municipal Council.
Gross violation of Child Protection Act During inspection, the team also found gross violation of the Child Protection Act 2005. The hostel inmates were forced to clean toilets, mop floors and clean their own utensils in absence of sweepers and cooks.
