In a horrific incident, a CCTV footage surfaced on Thursday where a government official, bestowed with the responbility of protecting and reforming children, was seen mercilessly beating up a girl in a juvenile home in Agra. Moreover, emergence of another footage raised serious questions about the safety of children at the home where a girl was seen with her hands and legs tied. As per media reports, one of the children at the juvenile home had also attempted suicide a few days ago.
In light of the gruesome incident, it has been reported that the superintendent of the home, Poonam Pal, has been suspended and a case has been registered against her. Pal was allegedly involved in similar incidents at a juvenile home in Prayagraj as well.
About the incident
As per the CCTV footage, a girl was seen lying in a room on one cot and six other juvenile detainees were resting on three cots that were kept together. In the video, the superintendent was seen barging into the room and mercilessly thrashing the girl while reprimanding the other ones and slapping one of them in presence of another employee.
But the second footage showed further disturbing video where a girl, likely to be no more than seven years old, was seen lying with her hands and legs tied. Her desperate efforts to get up and free herself make her appear to be slithering next to the bed.
What did the authroities say?
When questioned about the steps taken by the police in connection with the brutal incident, Agra Division Commissioner Ritu Maheshwari said, "The superintendent of the home, Poonam Pal and other staff members involved in the incidents have been suspended. The district magistrate has been ordered to take strict action, and an FIR has been filed."
To take a stock of thesituation inside the juvenile home, Agra district judge, additional district judge and the chairperson of the shelter home committee also inspected the home on Wednesday and identified several shortcomings including presence of beedis and chewing tobacco in one of the rooms occupied by the juveniles. Also, one of the detainees one was found to own much more money than the allowed amount. The food being given to the children was found to be inadequate.
