Hindustan Times: Bengaluru: Saturday, December 03, 2022.
Chitradurga mutt served notice after activist files complaint seeking details of ‘missing’ orphans.
Social activist and RTI worker B H Gowdru filed the complaint on November 25, a copy of which HT has seen. Following the complaint, the state child rights commission served a notice to the mutt on Friday. According to the complaint, the SJM mutt pontiff and sole managing trustee Shivamurthy Sharanaru has been running three shelters for children on mutt premises from 2001. (Representative Photo)
A complaint has been filed with the Karnataka child rights commission,director general and inspector general of police Praveen Sood, governor Thaawarchand Gehlot alleging that 22 children are ‘missing’ from an orphanage run by Chitradurga’s Sri Jagadguru Murugharajendra (SJM), people familiar with the matter said on Friday.
Social activist and RTI worker B H Gowdru filed the complaint on November 25, a copy of which HT has seen. Following the complaint, the state child rights commission served a notice to the mutt on Friday.
According to the complaint, the SJM mutt pontiff and sole managing trustee Shivamurthy Sharanaru has been running three shelters for children on mutt premises from 2001.
In the complaint, Gowdru quotes from documents obtained from the woman and child welfare department, stating that the three shelters run by the mutt were Sri Basaveshwara orphan children shelter, Akkamahadevi hostel and SJM Vidhyapeeth
To obtain government grant, the mutt had filed its details before the woman and child welfare department in 2011 stating that there were 11 orphans and 14 children of single parents in the orphanage. The hostel run by the mutt had seven orphans, 13 children of single parents and five children from poor families. According to the document, the SJM Vidhyapeeth had four orphans, 16 children of single parents and five students from poor families.
In total there were 75 children, out of which 22 are orphans according to the list provided by the women and children welfare department. The SJM mutt had been availing the state government aid before 2011. The mutt pontiff in 2012 had written to the department to stop the state government aid saying the “mutt will raise the children itself” the complaint said. However, the state had stopped the grants to the mutt after 2011.
“The children went missing after Sharanaru was arrested in two Pocso (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act) cases. The mutt has 22 orphans according to records but now they are not be found,” said the RTI activist. He said the child welfare committee had visited the mutt on October 18 and only two orphans were found at the institutes run by the mutt.
He questioned “how did the mutt continue to shelter children even after the state government had cancelled its affiliation with the department in January 2011”.
“Did the mutt follow the rules under the Juvenile Justice Act and other provisions of the law, while sheltering these children?” he asked. The activist said that in case the authorities with whom he has filed the complaint could not get the details of orphans, he will move court for a thorough probe.
“Maybe the children are adults now and are settled in other places.We served a notice to SJM mutt on Friday seeking the whereabouts of the orphans. We have given them a weeks’ time to furnish the details,” said district child protection unit officer (DCPU) Lokeshwar (who goes by one name).
.JPG)
.JPG)
