On May 29, teams of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) raided a child home in Madhya Pradesh’s Katni district suspecting religious conversion. During the surprise inspection drive the team found that minors were forced to offer Christian religious prayers, barred from visiting temples and follow Hindu religious customs.
The students complained that basic medical amenities were not provided to them and they were also, barred from taking part in co-curricular activities.
The NCPCR Chairperson, Priyank Kanoongo and members of the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) filed a police complaint against the administrators of the child home on May 30.
The accused Jerald Almida and Leeji Joseph have been booked under section 75 of the Juvenile Justice Act 2015 and sections 3 / 5 of the Madhya Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act 2021.
A First Information Report (number–461/2023) was registered at the Madhavnagar police station on May 30 by Kanoongo. In this complaint, the NCPCR chairperson stated that on May 29 he reached Katni and with DPO Women and Child Welfare Department Vikas Singh did a surprise inspection drive at the Asha Kiran child home, Jhinjhri.
As soon as they reached the shelter home they found that, someone had already informed the administrators about the surprise inspection drive. They also checked the mobile phone of one of the counsellors present at the centre, Mahesh and found that he had received a call from one of the district child commission members Manish.
Apart from this, the team also found a Bible in the name of a Hindu child, Prakash Kol (name changed to protect the identity of the minor). Another Adivasi child told the team that the shelter home is manipulating his documents to change his age again and again. Also, the students were not provided with knee-cap and other medical requirements. The children stated that he was not allowed to take part in co-curricular activities, even after being Hindu he was forced to visit Church, but the administrators never allowed him to visit the temple.
Other children with surnames Domar said they were not allowed to visit the temple even on Deepawali (Hindu festival). They said, the homes provide them soap twice a month and when they ask for bedsheets, they are told to bring it on their own. All these students were forced to offer, Christian religious prayers.
Notably, the team did not find the registration documents of the children’s home and this raises suspicion.
Taking it to Twitter the NCPCR chief on Monday said that ” During an inspection at a child shelter home being operated in Katni, Madhya Pradesh, the NCPCR team has found credible evidence about forcing Hindu tribal children to chant Christian religious prayer.” (find his Tweet here)
Kanoongo further said,” that the NCPCR body has further noticed that the children were not provided with the materials of their use as according with the rules, evidence pertaining to tampering of private records of the children has also been noticed.” (find the Tweet here)
On May 30, Kanoongo also met the families of the victim childrens. Speaking with the Organiser Kanoongo said, “After inspecting the shelter home and interacting with the children we find it better to send them home, therefore I decided to personally meet with their mother and hand them over to her.”
” I spoke with the district office and enrolled the mother of the children to the prime minister’s self-reliance and family empowerment scheme. I am happy to tell you that a bank cheque pertaining to one of these schemes has already been provided to the children’s mother,” he added.
Notably, members of Madhya Pradesh State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (SCPCR) Megha Pawar and Onkar Singh were also present on May 30. Speaking with Organiser, Megha said, “As many as seven children were rescued from the shelter home following their complaints. Three of them were sent to their families with their parents and two of them, good at sports were relocated to different hostels. However, two children are still at the shelter home and efforts have been made to track down their parents and family”.
All these students belong to the scheduled caste community.
Notably, cases like these are rampant in Madhya Pradesh, especially in the tribal areas.
In May 2023, Organiser reported a case where the members of SCPCR raided Saint Francis Child Home located in Sagar district of Madhya Pradesh where they found children from the shelter home were missing, there were irregularities in the documentation, cases of child labour, illegal conversion and forced religious practices.
In April 2023 Organiser reported a similar inspection drive was done at Nirmal Jyoti Convent School in Bina city located in the Sagar district by the SCPCR. The members found that students were forced to offer Christian prayers at the school. Also, Hindu students faced suspension for wearing Kalawa and Tilak at school. The members also recovered a human foetus from the school which was stored illegally.
In March 2023, Organiser reported details of one such inspection drive at Saint Peter’s school located in the Gwalior district of Madhya Pradesh. The SCPCR members found that the registration of the school was missing, land allotted for agriculture was used for residential purposes, copies of religious texts in thousands were recovered and the students were forced to offer religious prayers compulsorily.
In March 2023, Organiser reported details from another inspection drive made by the SCPCR team, at Saint Mary’s School located in the Morena district of Madhya Pradesh. During the inspection drive the teams found illegal stuff from the principal’s office such as packets of contraceptives and bottles of alcohol.
In the same month, Organiser reported another case where an FIR was registered against the authorities of the Missionary school in the Mandla district of Madhya Pradesh. Members of MP SCPCR and Chairperson Onkar Singh did a surprise inspection drive at various schools and hostels in the area. During the drive, they found irregularities at the Saint Joseph hostel. The students also reported forced religious conversions by the authorities.
In the first week of March, Organiser did a ground report in the tribal area of Madhya Pradesh, Dindori. The NCPCR and SCPCR members did a surprise inspection at a missionary school (JDES convent) and the hostel located in the Junwani village. Students reporting the case were mostly Tribals. During this drive, the boys’ students told visitors about the physical assault and the vulnerable hostel conditions. At the same time, the girls told CWC about the sexual abuse by the administrators. In his single visit, as many as seven FIRs were registered against the authorities.
