New Delhi: The alleged suicide of a 17-year-old ‘rape’ victim at a government child care shelter in Bhopal in January has led to a dispute between two agencies of the Women and Child Development (WCD) ministry — Childline and Child Welfare Committee (CWC) in Bhopal.
The teenager was among five girls, who had been allegedly raped for several years by a 68-year-old Bhopal-based newspaper owner, Pyare Miyan. He was arrested from Srinagar last July.
Sources in CWC Bhopal claimed the girl had consumed sleeping pills on 17 January at the child care shelter. She died three days later on 20 January at a hospital. An SIT has been formed to probe the matter.
The girl, Childline sources said, wanted to go home but the shelter authorities were not allowing it.
Childline is a nationwide emergency service, which responds to distress calls, while CWC is an autonomous body under the WCD ministry, which acts as a final authority to dispose of cases of care, protection, treatment and rehabilitation of distressed children. Both the agencies work in collaboration to help children in distress.
Childline India Foundation (CIF) is the nodal agency of the WCD ministry acting as the parent organisation for setting up, managing and monitoring the Childline 1098 service all over the country.
Following the teenager’s death, the National Commission For Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) sent a team to Bhopal for inquiry. A meeting was held on 27 January at the Bhopal collectorate, which was attended by Childline’s Bhopal director Archana Shahay, and CWC Bhopal members, among others.
On 3 February, the CWC sent a letter to India Childline Foundation — headquarters of Childline, in Maharashtra — and NCPCR, urging action against Shahay for accusing the CWC of being negligent of the rape victims at the meeting and making remarks against the autonomous body using unparliamentary language.
Shahay has denied the charges, saying her remarks were “taken out of context”.
The NCPCR, however, took cognisance of the CWC’s letter and wrote to the Bhopal DIG on 4 February, urging him to lodge an FIR against Shahay. The Bhopal Police is yet to take action.
ThePrint reached the WCD ministry spokesperson through text messages and email for a comment on the matter, but there was no response till the time of publishing this report.
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The rape case
The alleged rape case came to the fore in mid-July 2020. CWC sources said the girl, who “committed suicide”, and the four other girls, aged 15-18 years, were spotted in an intoxicated state by a police patrol team on 12 July near Ratibad village on the outskirts of Bhopal.
They were taken to the police station, where Childline members were called, following which it was found they were being sexually abused by Miyan for several years.
CWC sources claimed Miyan used to sexually abuse them at various places, including his home.
Miyan had fled after the incident came to light and Bhopal Police had announced a reward of Rs 30,000 for any information about him. He was arrested on 15 July from Srinagar.
The five girls were taken to the government shelter, 15 days after they were rescued, on the directions of the Bhopal CWC after taking the consent of their parents.
CWC sources said that in high-profile child sexual abuse cases, victims are usually rehabilitated to child care shelters after taking their parents’ permission.
Childline sources, however, said the girls wanted to go back home. CWC sources said they didn’t send the girl back for security purpose since it was a high-profile case.
‘Childline accused CWC of negligence’
The CWC letter, a copy of which was accessed by ThePrint, accused Shahay of using unparliamentary language.
“Ek ladki mar gayi, ab chaar aur marengi, aap tab ladkiyon ko chhodna (One girl has already died, four others will die, then you release them),” the letter quoted Shahay as saying during the meeting.
Dr Nivedita Sharma, a member of CWC Bhopal, told ThePrint, “Childline accused us of negligence, that’s why we wrote the letter.”
Denying the allegation, Shahay, however, told ThePrint, “I did not accuse anyone of negligence. I have been working on this (rape) case right from the beginning — from distress calls to arrests and court hearings, etc. We closely work with the CWC.”
She added, “I have been working with Childline for the last 22 years and my statement was taken out of context. We pursued the case despite threats and are taking it to its logical conclusion.”
A source in the Childline told ThePrint, “The girls were taken to the child care home after 15 days of the case. But the girls wanted to go to their own homes.”
“There have been a lot of fights over this. Childline was of the opinion that the girls should be sent to their parents, but CWC was apprehensive that the girls will turn hostile in the court,” the source said.
The source also said the four girls were sent back to their parents last month.
“If CWC would have sent the girls to their parents before, then one of them wouldn’t have died,” the source added.
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‘NCPCR siding with CWC’
In its letter, a copy of which has been accessed by ThePrint, the NCPCR urged the Bhopal DIG to initiate an inquiry against Shahay and take action within three days of receiving the letter.
“The remarks of (Bhopal) Childline director (Shahay) indicates a deliberate attempt of causing interference in the work of CWC Bhopal,” the letter by NCPCR chairperson Priyank Kanoongo stated.
Kanoongo has asked the DIG to lodge an FIR against Shahay under relevant sections of the law in the letter.
“The case was high-profile. One of the rape victims has died and it’s a big issue. So we wrote a letter to the DIG because we wanted to ensure there’s no negligence in taking care of the victims,” Kanoongo told ThePrint.
Bhopal Police is yet to take any action in the matter. DIG Irshad Wali told ThePrint, “We will enquire.”
A second source in the Childline said the NCPCR was siding with the CWC.
“CWC did not even ask NCPCR to take action. The letter was rather addressed to the director of Childline India Foundation of Maharashtra,” the source said.
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