Sexual abuse at the Allahabad orphanage, where continued rape of three minor girls was discovered last week was in full knowledge of not only local district officials but even higher ups at the state headquarters in Lucknow.
Disclosing this, a top functionary of the Uttar Pradesh government told this scribe, "Sexual abuse is the order of the day in many orphanages and protective homes under various wings of the state social welfare department."
He added, 'However, such incidents were usually hushed up and action was ordered only when any incident get blown up in the media."
The Allahabad case was a classic example of how the physical exploitation of minor girls was going on for years, yet successive officials continued to turn a blind eye and deaf ear to repeated cries of the inmates."
Even the local district magistrate and senior superintendent of police, who rarely bother to take suo motto initiative to check the goings-on in such homes, were now ready to admit, "These poor girls have been subjected to sexual abuse for quite sometime."
Ironically, both the district magistrate and the Senior Superintendent of police were ready to blame it all on the home superintendent, Urmila Gupta, who was already suspended and arrested.
However, questions were being raised about the role of the heads of department of women and child welfare, who were only known for misusing the resources at their command without improving the maintenance of these homes and the quality of life given to the inmates.
Allahabad SSP Naveen Arora who was entrusted with the probe in the Allahabad orphanage rape incident, expressed surprise, "How the orphanage peon Vidha Bhushan Ojha -- the key accused ion the case -- was allowed to continue as an ad hoc employee for six long years when his appointment was made for a period of just six months."
His theory that the superintendent alone was responsible for the murky happenings inside the orphanage seemed more like an alibi.
Besides this orphanage that was meant for minor girls, several inmates of yet another protective home for older girls (10-18 years) also divulged gory details of the harassment and physical abuse they were subjected to by their supervisors and other bosses of the social welfare department.
Evern as Allahabad SSP's report clearly spells out, "The neck-deep involvement of the superintendent as well as some other officials," no action had yet been initiated against them so far.
In fact, even action initiated so far was attributable to the intervention of the Allahabad high court, that took suo motto cognisance of the incident. Local district authorities as well as higher-ups in Lucknow began to take interest in the present case essentially because of the court's move; or else this case too would have ended up like similar other cases which were brought to light by the media and shortly thereafter hushed aside or conveniently forgotten by the state machinery.
