Bangalore, March 2: In a late-night operation, responding to a call from a brave child to the child helpline, teams from Child Rights Commission, the Child Welfare Committee, Child Helpline and the City police raided a City orphanage –Church of Christ – Home for the Orphans & Widows – in Chalghatta on Wednesday, rescued 41 children and seized the faculty.
The traumatised children – 22 girls and 19 boys – revealed shocking details of being outraged on a daily basis by the father and son duo – Williams and John Charles, who have allegedly been running the racket along with other eight members in the USA and Andhra Pradesh for the last 25 years with huge donations from the USA. The police have arrested the duo under the Juvenile Justice Act and the Indian Penal Code, and have sealed the orphanage.
CRC Chairperson Nina Nayak said the children were kept illegally in the orphanage and abused by the father-son duo. “There are no records of admission or parental details of the children. The children have been violated physically and sexually,” she said. The children showed marks of injuries on their bodies to CRC and CWC members. The canes with which they were assaulted lay on the table. Girls complained that Charles fondled them regularly. A three-and-a-half-year-old girl died three years ago due to high fever and the death was hushed up.
The ‘Church of Christ Society’ allegedly has clearance under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act – FCRA, but there are no receipts of donations received. “They have Rs 32 lakh in the FCRA account in the SBI Vimanapura branch. But there are no receipts and no records of the children, who told us that though a lot of donation was received in kind from corporate houses and individuals, nothing was ever given to the children,” said Ms Nayak.
Williams is allegedly a member of the ‘Church of Christ Society’, which is reportedly registered under the Societies Act but is running orphanages in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu without government licence. “We did not know that we need to register with the Department of Women and Child Development,” said Charles. There were no documents to prove the address or identity of the parents – most of whom are single mothers – who unable to fend for their children left them children in the orphanage. “He (Charles) beats us every day and uses abusive language. He follows the young girls and harasses them,” seven-year-old Ranjan (name changed) told Central Crime Branch Inspector Anand Kabburi, who heads the anti-human trafficking unit. A 15-year-old girl alleged that Charles “put his hands under our blouses when we are in the kitchen.”
“He fed a three-year-old Nepali child with grass and hit the children with shoes,” said CWC chairperson Meena Jain. The rescued girls have been sent to Apsa, an NGO, and boys have been put up with Child Helpline – Bosco mane for the time being.
Accused used to watch kids undress in the room
Many heartrending stories unfolded when 42 children, who were rescued from a children's home in Chellagatta on Old Airport Road, were produced before the child welfare committee (CWC) court on Thursday. CWC members had raided the Church of Christ Home on Wednesday evening.
The children revealed many a story about how they were allegedly assaulted by John Charles, general manager of the home. One of the rescued kids told committee members that he was allegedly beaten up by Charles daily for no apparent reason at all.
One of the children - a six-year-old - showed the marks on his arm and told the CWC authorities: "He would abuse us in very filthy language and beat us with sticks." One of the girls studying in PUC told the members that Charles ensured there were no latches fixed to the doors in the home and he would come to the room when they were undressing. No woman was employed at the home despite it housing girls. Parents of the children were asked not to come to the orphanage.
Investigators said Charles would warn parents against visiting the home because it would expose him to the funding agencies. Hapless parents, who couldn't afford to raise their children, agreed to the conditions allegedly laid down by Charles.
Only two among the 42 children were orphans, rest of them belonged to families that were not well off. Of those rescued, two girls were take back by their parents. For the rest, CWC members are trying to locate their parents to send them home.
Police have shut the institution as no permission was taken from the urban deputy commissioner, child right commission for running an institution for children. The institution did not have any record of the family background of the children and any record of them being enrolled in the institution either.
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