14-yr-old boy goes missing from shelter home

GURUGRAM: A 14-year-old boy has been missing from a Gurugram shelter home for the last three days. The boy was brought to Progetto shelter home in Darbaripur on July 31 and his sudden disappearance has raised questions over the security of the children at the shelter home. The child was admitted to the shelter home by the Child Welfare Committee.

The case has been registered at the Badshahpur police station and the police are now trying to find out through CCTV images whether the juvenile was abducted or he ran out of the shelter home on his own.

Though children missing from Gurugram shelter homes is not a new phenomenon, the

latest case holds special significance amid rising concerns over the safety of children at shelter homes after reports of sexual harassment of such children at Deoria in Uttar Pradesh and Muzaffarpur in Bihar.

After repeated complaints

last year, raids were conducted by the district authorities at the branches of Ujjwala Niketan, a child orphanage and welfare centre. Subsequently, more incidents of wrongdoings were reported at the Ngo-run organisation at Hayatpur.

According to official documents, the children at the centre were found to be exploited and there was no proper record of the number of children registered at the centre.

Large-scale discrepancies were found in stating vital information about the children like their age and their place of birth. In a more disturbing revelation, children have also been found missing from the centre.

According to the management, most of the missing children have been sent to Goa. However, when asked the objective for which they were sent, the management did not have valid reasons.

The Child Welfare Committee has said that raids will be conducted on women and child orphanages.

The boy was brought to Progetto shelter home in Darbaripur on July 31 and his sudden disappearance has raised questions over the security of the children at the shelter home