Agra: A Missionaries of Charity center was among two shelter homes in Agra facing abuse charges.
In the first case, residents of Panchsheel Social Welfare Society of Lohagarh village have alleged that its directors and employees had abused them physically and sexually.
In the second case, a 15-year-old girl allegedly tried to flee from the Mother Teresa Shelter Home on July 14. She accused the workers of the home of assaulting her for breaking another girl’s spectacle by mistake.
City magistrate Rekha S Chauhan has ordered shifting the girl and the residents of the Panchsheel Social Welfare Society to the government-managed Ram Lal Vridhh Ashram, Sikandra.
According to the magistrate, the probe into the Mother Teresa Home is going on and proper action will be taken once it is completed.
Chauhan said that during a surprise visit to the Panchsheel home in June several inmates had alleged its director Daudayal Mathuria, his wife Shardha and other employees used to physically assault them. They even alleged that an inmate from Allahabad died during one such incident and the staff quietly disposed off her body near the Yamuna in December 2015.
The magistrate also said a deaf and dumb woman was allegedly raped in the home premises in March this year, but no action was taken by the managers. “The woman had her address tattooed on her wrist, but the shelter never bothered to send her to her home in Firozabad,” she said.
The couple have been on the run after a case was registered on July 14. Earlier, the administration had canceled the Panchsheel Social Welfare Society’s license. The home’s director is also a member of the child welfare committee in Agra.
In the Mother Teresa home case, the girl tried to jump over the roof. As it was no high, she landed on the boundary wall and suffered minor injuries. According officials, the teenager has epilepsy.
The victim said she was playing with her friend, when she accidentally broke the friend’s spectacles. A worker slapped her and reported to the nun in charge. The sister “thrashed me several times with a blunt instrument and threaten to call my uncle and transfer me to his house,” alleged the girl, an orphan.
The nun in charge Sister Anita Rose told The Times of India: “Yes, our sister slapped her to settle the matter between the two girls, but it’s not that we were cruel. We treat all the children in the home as if they were our own kid.”