22 children from Missionaries of Charity shelter in Ranchi evacuated

RANCHI: A day after sister Koshleniea, in-charge of Nirmal Hriday, run by the Missionaries of Charity (MC), was arrested for allegedly selling a new-born baby, Ranchi’s child welfare committee (CWC) here on Friday evacuated the Nirmala Shishu Bhawan, another shelter home run by MC in the state capital, and shifted 22 children to an undisclosed place.

Nirmal Hriday’s sister Koshleniea and the shelter home sweeper Anima Induwar were arrested and sent to judicial custody by the Ranchi police for their alleged involvement in selling a newborn baby boy to an Uttar Pradesh-based couple.

Ranchi’s child welfare committee chairperson Rupa Verma said, “All 22 children staying at Nirmala Shishu Bhawan in Harmu locality were shifted to a safe place, which we cannot disclose currently in view of their safety. We have already shifted 13 unwed mothers from Nirmal Hriday to a Namkumbased shelter home on Wednesday.”

She said they also wrote to the sub-divisional officer (SDO) for shifting 70 mentally and physically challenged inmates from Nirmal Hriday.

“Since MC’s shelter is involved in selling newborn baby, the CWC has decided to write to the government for closure of both the shelters and blacklist Missionaries of Charity in Ranchi,” the CWC chairperson said.

On CWC’s direction, the police on Wednesday arrested Induwar and sent her to jail after her confession that the boy was sold at ₹1.20 lakh to the couple.

“This was not an isolated case. Both the accused have admitted before the police that they have sold four children so far. We have videographic and written evidences of their statements,” said Kotwali police station in-charge Shyamanand Mandal on Friday.