In the recent past we have seen the horrific case of a shelter home in Muzaffarpur Bihar and in Uttar Pradesh’s Deoria district where rampant exploitation and marginalisation of inmates came out to be a widely accepted reality. In the meantime we are hearing of another equally disturbing and haunting tale coming in from Kanpur, reflecting the inhuman treatment of children in state-run homes for the destitute and abandoned.
In a shocking report from Kanpur, it has comes to the knowledge of the concerned authorities that nearly fifty-seven inmates of a shelter home have tested positive for the coronavirus inception.
These are all minor girls who had been living at the shelter home, five of these girls are also pregnant. A female employee of the shelter has also tested positive. Out of the five minors who are pregnant and have turned out coronavirus positive, are two who are HIV and HepatitisC positive as well.
Conducting of a random sampling test at the shelter first lifted the veil over the condition of the inmates inside the shelter, when one of them came out to be coronavirus positive.
After this all the 171 inmates of the shelter home were tested in the last four days and 57 of them, aged between 15-17 years have turned out to be coronavirus positive.
The details were released by the Kanpur administration and the case of medical negligence and extremely unsafe conditions inside the shelter home have come into limelight.
According to the release issued by the Kanpur administration, the first pregnant girl was housed at the shelter home on November 30, 2019 after a medical examination on the recommendation of the Child Welfare Committee(CWC). In this case, a charge sheet has already been filed in the court.
The second pregnant inmate had been living at the shelter home since early December 2019, all the girls who are pregnant and have tested positive for coronavirus at the shelter home are victims of sexual abuse under the POSCO Act.
The shelter home has been sealed for sanitation purposes.
The ADM and the regional circle officer have been asked to investigate into the mater and submit a detailed report on the issue.
