Written by: Express News Service
2 min readPuneNov 30, 2013 03:48 AM IST
First published on: Nov 30, 2013 at 03:48 AM IST
Even as another case of rape of an eight-year-old girl at SOS Balgram in Yerawada has come to light,the woman and child welfare department on Friday said they are awaiting the state government to accept their recommendation to house boys and girls separately at observation homes.
The department has directed the district child welfare officer to look into the matter and conduct an inquiry.
While observation homes under the department have seen many such cases,this is the second such case after an alleged molestation of another child at the same centre. “We will be sending a notice to the incharge,’’ said an official from the women and child development department.
The department will issue notices under section 23 against the owner of the orphanage for not taking proper care. The department said they have come up with new set of directives to operate orphanages in the state. “We have put together 35 conditions to operate any orphanage. This has been forwarded to the state government for approval,’’ said a senior official from the department. Besides the new clauses,increase in staff to carry out checks has also been proposed,he added.
The department has recommended that girls and boys over 10 years be housed in separate homes. Members of the child welfare committee said they are hopeful the government will accept the recommendation.
Two years ago,the department had shifted 44 children to Antar Bharati and SOS Balgram from Vidyavati Ashram,the orphanage where a 13-year-old girl was found pregnant. The department had issued orders stopping the orphanage from functioning until the inquiry was over.
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