Mumbai: Nuns shown the door for torturing orphanage kids at Amboli

The 95yearold St Catherinersquos Home in Amboli came under scrutiny last year after some inmates filed an FIR alleging mental and physical abuse left middayrsquos report on April 10 2016 on the abuseThe inmates of St Catherines Home Amboli have finally got some sense of justice Over a year after midday reported the mental and physical abuse of some inmates of this home a state committee has come down heavily on the shelter for brushing aside the allegationsIts 35page investigation report has confirmed that the allegations of abuse are true and recommended that the five nunscumcaregivers named in an FIR filed last year be transferredAlso read Mumbai shelter horror Inmate forced to rub nose on staffs sandalThe committee in its report prepared on April 13 said the shelters treatment of the complainants violated the Juvenile Justice Care and Protection of Children Act and recommended stringent action against it if it doesnt mend its waysThe report clarified that overall the shelter is a fit institution to provide care and protection to underprivileged girls but it slammed the actions of the five staff members named in the FIR It deemed the act by one of the nuns to photograph a girls naked body while sleeping criminally wrong The nun had claimed that she was only pretending to take photos of the girl It also questioned the disciplinary methods employed by the shelterBesides the committee pulled up the Child Welfare Committee CWC for failing to identify the seriousness of the allegations and its reluctance to give a proper hearing to the complainants It panned the CWC for waking up only after the registering of the FIR and the midday reportAppalling abuseOn April 10 last year midday had unearthed the shocking abuse of some inmates of the shelter for underprivileged girls A counsellor Renu Gill who worked with the inmates for a little under three months found that some girls had undergone physical emotional mental psychological and verbal abuse at the hands of their caregivers Gill a social worker from Maladbased NGO A Step Towards Life had been hired to help the inmates and conduct modules on anger management coping skills stress and time management parenting and life skills to improve the facilityAlthough she found that nearly 90 per cent of the inmates exhibited signs of posttraumatic stress disorder attentiondeficithyperactivity disorder ADHD cognitive dysfunctional behaviour feelings of shame and selfblame eating disorders somatic concerns anxiety dissociative patterns repression and unhealthy relationships only a few could summon the strength to take on their abusive caregiversPanel formedGill helped the inmates and their parents approach the Child Welfare Committee CWC and then the police after the CWC refused to take cognisance of the complaint An FIR was filed against the reputed 95yearold shelter at Amboli police station on March 30 last year based on the statement of 15 girls for their mental physical and sexual abuseAt the same time Gill raised the issue with the department of women and child development the State Human Rights Commission and local MLA Dr Bharti LavehkarThe women and child welfare development department directed the formation of a six member committee comprising a district advocate a district women and child development officer a representative from the district child protection unit Mumbai suburban and the CWC and a probation officer from its own wingAfter months of inquiry the committee nailed the abusersManoj Patankar probation officer from women and child development department who was part of the committee said all staff members of St Catherines Home named in the FIR as well as other complaints have already been transferred We visited the shelter recently and found that the issue has been resolved We are keeping an eye on more complaints of similar nature from the home Our aim is to protect vulnerable children against any kind of physical or mental harmGill however questioned if transferring abusive caregivers to another shelter was a suitable punishment5 No of nuns whose transfer the committee has recommended