Test confirms Manipuri girls rescued from Jaipur home were sexually abused

Nine of the 13 girls have been found suffering from leucorrhoea,a vaginal discharge typically seen among sex workers and girls and women with poor hygiene.

According to the report of the medical examination,a copy of which is with The Indian Express,the 20 children — 15 girls and five boys — were examined by a panel of doctors led by the medical superintendent of Ukhrul district hospital “after more than two months of their being repatriated”.

The children were rescued after a raid on Grace Home in Jaipur,run by pastor Jacob John. Nineteen of the 20 children belong to Ukhrul district; one is from Chandel district.

The girls showed signs of multi-vitamin deficiency resulting in bodyaches and numbness,the report says. Ten of the 13 had rickets,a sign of severe vitamin D deficiency. The five boys,the report says,were in “better health conditions”.

Ukhrul superintendent of police K Kabib declined to comment on the contents of the medical report,saying the matter was in court. He has,however,issued notices to all pastors and churches across the district,asking them to ensure that no children are sent out of the area.

“The Supreme Court has ruled that children from Assam and Manipur under the age of 14 years are not to be sent out of the states,” Kabib said.

Pastor Jacob John was arrested by the Nagaland police in Jaipur on May 2,and by the Manipur police in Dimapur jail on June 13. Sources in Ukhrul said John,whose first wife was a Tangkhul Naga from the district,had been visiting Ukhrul from Jaipur since 1997 to preach at the Tuinem Baptist Church and Nepali Baptist Church.

He is learnt to have set up Grace Home in 1999,staffing it with people from UP,Mumbai and Ukhrul. The Ukhrul staff,which included relatives through his first marriage,allegedly operated as child traffickers,picking up children after promising their families that they would get free education and boarding in Jaipur.

Jacob is alleged to have given a drug called ZIFI-100 to the girls in order to “arouse sexual desires in them”,according to a child rights activist in Ukhrul.

Child Welfare Committee member Leisan Columbus,who is now in charge of looking after the rescued children,said that many of the girls could not even walk due to rickets when they first returned home.

“We are giving the children vitamin D supplements. The girls were never allowed outside the house and therefore had very little exposure to the sun. Severe vitamin D deficiency led to knock-knees,” Leisan said.