TIRUCHY: A 12-year-old Bangladeshi boy, lodged as an alleged illegal immigrant at the Foreigners Special Camp (FSC) in Tiruchy, has been accused of sexually abusing a one-year-old girl inside the facility.
Sources in the Centre said the incident occurred because the boy, who should have been housed in the men’s block, was instead allowed to stay with his mother in the women’s block. The child he allegedly abused belongs to another Bangladeshi family lodged in the women’s block, they said.
The incident reportedly took place two months ago. Sources alleged that officials ensured it did not reach their superiors or the public domain. When DT Next contacted Tiruchy District Collector Pratik Tayal, he denied that any such incident had happened in the facility.
According to the sources, FSC officials had the child treated at a government hospital for two weeks and subjected the boy to a medical examination. No case was registered under the Pocso Act because the boy was found to be suffering from kidney ailments, they said.
The child’s mother is also reportedly afraid to file a complaint, fearing it could delay her deportation to Bangladesh.
The sources said the boy’s family, including his mother, father and brother, had migrated to India illegally and worked as rag pickers in Thanjavur district. They landed in the FSC after the shop owner who bought their collected waste filed a police complaint when the family asked for higher payment.
Prison activist and Madras High Court advocate KR Raja has alleged that the system at the FSC is rotten and that female inmates are treated inhumanely.
He said living conditions in the women’s quarters are very poor, with inmates lacking sufficient space in the rooms. Basic amenities are also inadequate, and sewage from the septic tanks allegedly flows close to the quarters. He claimed that snakes and scorpions frequently enter the women’s quarters because of poor maintenance.
Raja also alleged that female inmates are denied drinking water and are forced to buy it from outside using the daily financial assistance of Rs 144 provided to them.
He further alleged that the authorities have illegally detained a Ugandan woman, Aisha Kagoya, in the centre even though a judicial magistrate court had acquitted her in two cases. Kagoya is suffering from depression because her mother is unwell in her home country and she has been separated from her child for a long time, he said. He added that officials do not understand immigrants' human rights.
Raja has sent a representation in this regard to the Union Home Ministry and the State Government.
Collector Pratik Tayal assured that he would look into Kagoya’s case, but denied allegations about a lack of facilities for female inmates in the camp.