26 girls missing from missionary-run shelter home in Bhopal found safe, ‘Forced’ to practice Christianity

According to NCPCR Chairman Priyank Kanoongo, a missionary was running the shelter home without any license. He added that the rescued children were kept secretly in the house and were made to “practice Christianity”.

All the 26 girls, many of them minors, who were feared to have gone ‘missing’ from an unlicensed child shelter home in Madhya Pradesh’s Bhopal found safe. The matter came to light during a surprise check by National Commission for Protection Of Child Rights (NCPCR) chairman Priyank Kanoongo at the Aanchal Girls’ Hostel.

कल मध्यप्रदेश की राजधानी भोपाल के तारासेवनिया में राज्य बाल आयोग अध्यक्ष व सदस्यों के साथ संयुक्त रूप से एक मिशनरी द्वारा संचालित अवैध बाल गृह का निरीक्षण किया।
यहाँ की संचालक NGO हाल तक सरकारी एजेन्सी की तरह चाइल्ड लाइन पार्ट्नर के रूप में कार्यरत रही है,एवं इसने सरकारी… pic.twitter.com/yVlWt04c90

— प्रियंक कानूनगो Priyank Kanoongo (@KanoongoPriyank) January 5, 2024

In a post on her official X handle, the Kanoongo said he paid a surprise visit to the child shelter located in the Parwalia area on the outskirts of Bhopal, and after checking the register, found it contained entries of 68 girls, but 26 of them were missing.

The missing girls, aged between 6 to 18 years, are mostly Hindus and hailed from different states including Gujarat, Jharkhand, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.

“Yesterday, I jointly inspected the illegal children’s home run by a missionary in Tarasevnia, Bhopal, the capital of Madhya Pradesh, along with the Chairman and members of the State Children’s Commission. The operating NGO here has been working as a Child Line partner like a government agency till recently, and while working as a government representative, it has rescued children from the streets, without informing the government,” the NCPCR chief said in her post on X.

As per the FIR, the child shelter housed girls belonging to different religions but they were made to follow only religion (Christianity) at the facility. According to the FIR, Anil Mathew who earlier ran Railway ChildLine had registered many orphans through outreach programmes in various areas without obtaining permission from the Child Welfare Committee..

The FIR in the case was registered at Parwaliya Sadak Police Station in Bhopal under sections of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015. Director Anil Mathew is booked as an accused in the case.

Source : India.com