Plaint against mother for confining minor girl in Odisha

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Oct 13:

A day after a four-year-old girl was rescued by a city-based voluntary organisation, district Child Welfare Committee (CWC) today filed a written complaint against the parents at a local police station here for alleged negligence in the care and compromising security of the child due to confinement. Besides, it has turn down the request of the parents to handover their child to them.

The Khurda CWC filed the complaint with Mancheswar police station here against the working mother for confining the girl child to the house from dawn to dusk since last seven months. The CWC, in its complaint, has mentioned that the child has suffered negligence in care and the confinement had posed security threats to her.

Notably, the girl was rescued by Ruchika Childline and Mancheswar police from a house at Kalarahanga under Mancheswar police station limits yesterday. The officials broke open the door after getting formal approval from Additional District Magistrate (ADM) and rescued the girl.

The mother, who works in a private hospital in the city, used to leave for her workplace by locking the girl in the house. The doors used to be opened after evening after the woman returning from work.

The 30-year-old mother continued with this practice for the past seven months, till a neighbour heard the child crying and reported the matter to the CWC yesterday afternoon. Following this, the CWC officials and local police rushed to the spot to rescue the child.

According to the neighbours, they had repeatedly asked her to hire a maid servant or make alternative arrangements to take care of the child in her absence.

The child appeared visibly traumatised and insisted that she be dropped at her house.

“My mother will beat me up if she comes to know about this that I have come out of the home,” the girl said after being rescued from the home.

The minor girl was shifted to a shelter home by the authorities.

Meanwhile, the CWC has denied to handover the child to her parents till it is convinced that they provide adequate security to the girl.

“We have asked them to submit a written proposal and if the Committee is satisfied with the proposal then it may handover the child to its parents,” a CWC member said.