Indore/New Delhi:
Around 21 children at an orphanage in Madhya Pradesh's Indore have alleged horrific abuse and torture by the staff, according to police.
The horror unraveled after a team from the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) conducted a surprise inspection at the orphanage last week.
Police said the children told officials that staff would torture them for minor mistakes. “The children told the team they had been hung upside down, branded with hot iron and photographed after being stripped naked,” officials said.
They also had to inhale smoke from burning red peppers.
A First Information Report or FIR has been registered against five employees of the orphanage and investigation has started.
“A four-year-old child was locked in the bathroom and deprived of food for two to three days after defecating in his pants,” the FIR said.
Police said the orphanage – run by the Vatsalyapuram Jain Trust – was not registered under the Juvenile Justice Act. The Trust also has orphanages in Bengaluru, Surat, Jodhpur and Kolkata.
“The case was filed on the basis of a complaint filed by the CEC. The orphanage was immediately sealed and the children were shifted to government facilities,” said Amrendra Singh, Additional Commissioner of Police, Indore.
“The allegations of the horrific abuse are being investigated,” Singh said.
Police said the team also submitted photographs of child injuries along with the complaint.
The children at the facility are orphans from Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Odisha and Madhya Pradesh, it is learnt.