TIRUCHY: After complaints of ill treatment and verbal abuse of inmates in a private children’s home in Tiruchy, the district Collector, who conducted an inquiry, ordered the police to register a case against the administrators and sent them to prison on Monday, while the inmates were shifted to various homes in the city.
It is said that a government-aided children’s home, Annai Ashram, has been functioning at Wireless Road near the airport in Tiruchy for several years, where the orphaned girl children and aged persons are being taken care of. The Ashram has been providing vocational training to the inmates. Among the inmates, there are as many as 84 girl children residing in the home.
Against such a backdrop, the Tiruchy Collector V Saravanan recently received complaints against the administrators of the home for ill-treating the girls and making verbal abuses, and he ordered to form a committee comprised of the PA to Collector Athiyaman Kaviyarasu, Deputy Collector Farook, District Social Welfare Officer Vijayalakshmi and Child Welfare Committee official Sandhiya to probe the issue.
The committee, which conducted an inquiry, confirmed that the children underwent torture at the home. The committee also recommended relocation of the children from the Annai Ashram to other homes nearby. Subsequently, they were shifted to other homes for a couple of days.
Meanwhile, on Monday, the Collector stopped the government grant to the home and asked the Ponmalai All Women Police to register a case against the Ashram Superintendent Uma, Counsellor Fencia Roselin, Warden Tamilarasi and Cook Asha Banu. Based on the recommendation, the police registered a case under various BNS sections, including the Juvenile Justice Act 75 and arrested them.
Later, they were produced before the court, and they were lodged in the Special Prison for Women in Tiruchy.