RANCHI: The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) on Saturday sent a letter to the Chief Secretary and Director General of Police (DGP) of Jharkhand, addressing concerns over the alleged "trafficking and illegal selling" of children from the Nirmal Hriday Centre, an institution managed by the Missionaries of Charity in Ranchi.
In the letter, NCPCR noted that during a visit to Dumka on August 30, 2019, the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) shared statements from victims of sexual abuse, recorded at the request of the District Administration of Ranchi. However, no action has been taken by the administration so far.
During its visit, the NCPCR found that the victims had clearly stated that they were sexually abused. Despite these statements being on record, no steps were taken by the District Administration or the Superintendent of Police in Ranchi and Dumka under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012. The Commission indicated that the case appeared to involve offences under the POCSO Act.
NCPCR further revealed that according to a preliminary Action Taken Report submitted in response to a summons, 13 more victims had been recovered from the Nirmal Hriday institution.
The child rights protection body stated that documents seized from the institution contained information about pregnancies and sexual abuse, some involving minors. Eight of these minors were from the Dumka district, and their details had been shared with the Dumka administration.
The Commission expressed concerns that these seized documents might contain information about minors from other districts or states.
The NCPCR stressed that the POCSO Act requires mandatory reporting of all offences under the Act and described the lack of action as a blatant violation.
In its letter, the Commission requested the DGP and Chief Secretary to immediately file an FIR under the POCSO Act for two girls whose statements were recorded by the CWC.
It also urged that FIRs be lodged for all identified minor victims based on the documents seized during the investigation and asked for a report on their whereabouts.
Additionally, NCPCR sought a detailed report on the victims of pregnancy and sexual abuse who may belong to other states or union territories and were residing at the institution.
The Commission also demanded that an action-taken report be submitted within five days of receiving the letter.