The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has taken suo motu cognisance of a news report on the alleged torture of children at an orphanage in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore with branches in Jodhpur, Surat, Calcutta and Bangalore and issued notices to the respective state governments.
According to the report, children aged between four and 14 years were subjected to torture at the orphanage in Indore and the police have registered an FIR in the matter on a complaint by the Child Welfare Committee (CWC).
The NHRC has observed that the contents of the news report, if true, amounted to a serious violation of human rights. It noted “that taking lawful action, an FIR has been registered by the police at Indore, but the matter has inter-state ramification. Therefore, an enquiry/ inspection of the other branches of the orphanage, situated outside Indore is also necessary”.
Accordingly, the NHRC has issued notices to the chief secretaries and the directors-general of police of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Bengal and Karnataka, calling for action-taken reports within four weeks.
