Mumbai shelter horror: Inmate forced to rub nose on staff's sandal

A counsellor who was hired by St Catherines Home in Amboli Andheri West mdashhome to over 300 underprivileged girls aged between four and 20 mdash to work with its children has alleged cruelty towards the young women at the hands to the shelter staffAlso read Paedophilia horror Fatherson duo rape minors in shelter homeMother of a victim narrates how her daughter was made to rub her nose on a staffers sandal for drinking water from a water tapThe counsellor a social worker from the Maladbased NGO A Step Towards Life was hired to help the female inmates and conduct modules on anger management coping skills stress and time management parenting and life skills to improve the facility She said that her oneonone interactions with them who come from traumatic and abusive backgrounds and were brought to the home to provide a safe environment revealed signs of physical emotional mental psychological and verbal abuse from the caretakersI noted that nearly 90 per cent of them suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder PTSD attentiondeficit hyperactivity disorder ADHD cognitive dysfunctional behaviour triggered by depression feelings of shame and selfblame eating disorders somatic concerns anxiety dissociative patterns repression and unhealthy relationship problems These are linked to traumatic abuse she said requesting anonymityThe counsellor who worked at the home for less than three months educated the victims and their parents of their rights and accompanied them to the police station where she helped them lodge a complaint against the 94yearold institution On March 30 based on the statement of 15 girls the Amboli police registered an FIR against the administration for abusing physically mentally and sexually abusing the children Officers from Amboli police station on condition of anonymity said they are in the process of recording statements of at least eight other girlsSt Catherines Home in Amboli Andheri West PicAjinkya SawantA case was filed under IPC Sections 509 word gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman 323 punishment for voluntarily causing hurt 504 intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace 349 acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention of which midday has a copyLast week local MLA Dr Bharti Lavehkar raised the issue during the state assembly session at Mantralaya The state government has now assigned the Mahila Bal Vikas Adhikari to conduct and inquiry and submit their report based on which an administrator may be appointed to run the placeCase studiesThe counsellor has alleged that the nuns who run the homecumshelter mdash which also has day borders mdash were verbally abusive and also beat the girls with sticks and chappals One inmate told me that on February 3 she was forced to rub her nose on a staff members sandal and apologise for drinking water from a water tap When she refused she was beaten and made to write sorry on a piece of paper 100 timesmidday has the video of the girls and parents recounting the horrific incidents A child narrates how on Sundays they would be served nonvegetarian food ordered from the donations received Vegetarian inmates too would be forced to eat rice with nonvegetarian gravy Their other option was to starveA sister even told a child where you have come from the way you act and wear lipstick you look like a vaya On February 26 at 1030 pm a senior member of the facility visited the Dilkush cottage where 62 girls eat their meals and sleep She pulled their blankets took pictures while they were in their nightwear and made sexually abusive statements The child felt too embarrassed to confess this to the cops but she told me this said the counsellorOn March 8 after informing the respective parents the counsellor brought the assaults to the notice of the school management On March 30 the victims and their parents approached the police as well as officials from the Development of Women and Children Ministry of Women and Children the Prime Ministers Office and the State Human Rights Commission They also approached Lavehkarmidday has a copy of the FIR and the handwritten complaint signed by nine girls addressed to the CWC They paid a heavy price for lodging the complaint as all of them have been suspended from the homeAccording to Sharda Talreja chairperson CWC their committee has heard of malpractice at the institution We are scrutinising the data collected after which we will file the report If need be we will approach the High Court for justice Talreja addedOther sideSister Superior Flavia from St Catherine refused to comment on the issue and directed the reporter to the school principal Sister Julie who demanded to know the identity of the complainants All complaints against us are false and we shall fight the situation in our own way We do not give any comments over the phone she said However she declined our request for a meeting