Over 200 people protested at Jantar Mantar on Monday, demanding a Central Bureau of Investigation probe in cases of sexual abuse at Arya Anathalaya and alleging that the perpetrators still continued to work at the Daryaganj orphanage.
An 11-year-old girl had died at the orphanage following alleged sexual abuse.
Child rights activists, former staff of Arya Anathalaya and concerned parents claimed that the employees involved in abuse against children still worked at the the orphanage.
“There are loopholes in the process of monitoring the orphanages. The foster care scheme in Delhi has not been implemented so far. No inspection committee has been formed till date to keep a thorough check on the functioning of orphanages in the city,” said Anisha, member of an NGO, Save the Children.
The NGO members presented a memorandum to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and its copy to Delhi Lieutenant Governor Tejendra Khanna, demanding a CBI inquiry.
They also demanded a change in the management of the orphanage and immediate removal of the accused staff.
“Children are being abused, tormented, killed and we are living in a state of denial that it was a one-off case. The government needs to make a stringent law to deal with the accused. The message should go that child abuse will not be tolerated,” said Revathi Nambiar, a concerned parent.
According to a report by HAQ: Centre for Child Rights, a majority of children — both boys and girls — interviewed by the NGO at the orphanage said they were subjected to sexual harassment, ill-treatment, eve-teasing or rape.
The orphanage has at least 1,100 destitute and needy children. The report also said a nine-year-old boy was allegedly sodomised not only by older boys but also by wardens there.
The boy was produced before the Child Welfare Committee and sent to NGO Salaam Baalak Trust.
“There are at least two more staff members accused of child sexual abuse who have not been arrested or suspended,” said Ashok Kumar, member of the organisation.
The police have so far arrested three orphanage employees, including a security guard, chief warden and warden of the boys’ hostel.
Activists added that the two wardens have only been booked for cruelty to children under section 23 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000. One of them faced allegations of sexual abuse.
Both are out on bail and no action has been taken against others who also face accusations of physical abuse of children, they said.
“The progress in this case is extremely slow and children continue to live in the same institution with the same people against whom they have given statements,” an activist said.