Coastal News
29 children rescued from illegal confinement
Thu, 07 Apr 2011 - 16:31:56
S.O. News Service
Mangalore: A group of Dalits and Christians staged a protest against
Women and Child Welfare Department in front of a hostel named balakara
Mandira in Bondel here, on Wednesday. According to the protesters, 29
children aged between 6 and 15 were forcibly kept in illegal
confinement for many days claiming their protection and education.
All the children including one girl identified as Chandana (11) were
from different places of the State, including Tumkur, Halebid, Hassan
and Chikmagalur. Seven of them were also from Patna in Bihar. All of
them were brought to the hostel last Saturday after a raid carried out
by a team led by Child Welfare Committee Chairperson Asha Nayak on a
"congested" hall in Pakshikere near Haleyangady.
Asha Nayak claimed that the children along with around ten other
people, including the family which looked after the children were kept
in a hall, measuring around 250 sq. ft., which had only one bathroom
and a toilet for all of them.
Nayak had said that while interrogating the man in charge of the
so-called hostel, he said that they were brought here for education.
When asked for documents showing parental consent for allowing the
children to be under his care, or financial records, the man claimed
that they were with the chartered accountant, she added.
On Tuesday, the department had asked the parents of all the children
to be present at the remand home but did not hand over the children to
them as they did not bring relevant documents to prove that they are
indeed the parents.
Asha Nayak alleged that the Christian Guru K J Joy, his wife
Elizabeth, and their children Joel and Jobi had kept the 29 children
under illegal confinement. She claimed that the children were also
being forced to convert their religion. Asha Nayaka asserted that
Chandana had complained about Joy molesting her, which provoked the
locals, who thrashed him. Later police took him into custody for
interrogation.
However while confronting the media on Wednesday, the eleven year old
girl changed her statement and asserted that she was neither molested
nor was ill treated by Joy. She added that she was compelled to say
such things against Joy.
Christian Federation of India, Dalita Sangharsha Samiti and KMN staged
a demonstration for over an hour condemning the raid and demanding
justice to Joy. A leader of Christian Federation of India, Prashant
Jattan averred that the incident was a conspiracy against committed
social workers. He stated that the girl has disclosed the truth and
Joy has been proven innocent. DSS leader Keshav was also present.
K J Joy refused the allegations against him and his family and said
that he was running just a children's hostel for children below the
age of 15, so that he could provide them with education. He also
claimed that he received financial support for the cause from foreign
countries. However, he couldn't produce any documents to support his
claims.
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