More girls may have been sexually abused: Cops

AN FIR UNDER POCSO ACT AND IPC SECTIONS WAS LODGED ON TUESDAY: POLICE

An investigation into the alleged sexual abuse of two minor girls at a children’s home run by a state governmentapproved NGO, Mother Teresa Welfare Trust (MTWT), has found that more girl inmates were being abused there for over four years, Jamshedpur senior superintendent of police Dr M Tamil Vanan has said.

Police said they have expanded the scope of the investigation in the light of the findings. Police on Tuesday said an FIR under Pocso (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act and sections of the IPC was lodged on the complaint of the two rescued girls against Harpal Singh Thapar, director of the home, his wife

JAMSHEDPUR:

Pushpa Rani Tirkey, who is also the chairperson of East Singhbhum district child welfare committee (CWC), warden Geeta Singh, her son Aditya Singh, and another staff member Tony Singh. All the accused are on the run.

Vanan said that the two girls, aged 16 and 17, have given videorecorded statements in which they have reiterated all the charges made in their statements to the special Pocso court.

Police said the details are horrifying. “Investigation has found that Thapar allegedly had physical relations with the 19-year-old daughter of the warden...,” said Dr Vanan. The girls said they were in the shelter home for the past four years, but no action was taken despite repeated complaints to Tirkey, the SSP said, adding that the police were looking at the involvement of some other suspects also.

The death of a three-and-a-halfyear-old girl due to brain tumour in the home 25 days ago is also being probed. “This girl was the daughter of a rape survivor who didn’t want to keep her. Thapar and his wife didn’t inform the police or the administration about the death, which they were legally bound to,” the SSP stated in his report to the Jamshedpur deputy commissioner, Suraj Kumar.

Police are awaiting medical reports of the two rescued girls to determine if they were raped.

MTWT is a Jharkhand-government-approved NGO. The shelter had 23 girls in two rooms, while the warden lived in another room on the same floor with her daughter and son. Thapar and Tirkey lived on the first floor, while 22 boys lived on the ground floor. Police has recommended to the district collector to act against MTWT and Tirkey, and to rehabilitate the girls. Vanan said police were also probing allegations that Thapar and Tirkey used to transfer government funds and private donations into their own accounts.

In a similar case at a shelter home in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur three years ago, 12 people, including key accused Brajesh Thakur, were sentenced to life imprisonment in February 2020 by a Delhi court.