Chhattisgarh: Woman thrashes two kids at adoption centre; video goes viral, FIR lodged

Police on Monday lodged an FIR against a woman staffer of an NGO-run adoption centre in Kanker district of Chhattisgarh for allegedly thrashing two children and took her into custody, officials said.

The state government also suspended a Woman and Child Development (WCD) department staffer who was posted as in charge District Programme Officer of Kanker when the incident happened last year, the officials added.

They said Seema Dwivedi, Superintendent of 'Visheshkrit Dattak Grahan Agency' (Specialised Adoption Agency or SAA), run by Pratigya Vikas Sanstha, was booked on the direction of Kanker Collector Priyanka Shukla. Orphans below the age of six years are kept in the SAA.

A case was lodged against Dwivedi under section 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) of the IPC and provisions of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 and Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, Shukla said. She has been taken into custody by police and further investigation is underway, the collector added.

The WCD department has placed Nodal Officer (District WCD officer) of Mohla-Manpur- Ambagarh Chowki district Chandrashekhar Mishra, who was then posted as District Programme Officer of the department in Kanker under suspension with immediate effect for alleged negligence, Shukla said.

All required measures are being taken to ensure the security and caretaking of the children at the adoption centre, she added.

The video of the woman thrashing two children in the facility went viral on social media on Saturday, following which the Directorate of State's Women and Child Development (WCD) that supervises the operation of such facilities was asked by the collector to submit a report.

The collector had sought registration of a police case and also suspended the services of NGO for the facility on Monday after the WCD team carried out an inspection at the facility in connection with the incident on Sunday.

In the video reported to be from CCTV footage, Dwivedi is seen thrashing a girl, holding her by the hair, and throwing her on the floor. She then lifts the girl, throws her on the bed and continues to thrash her. In the video, the woman can be seen asking another girl to come forward and she too is placed on the bed and thrashed.

In the inspection report submitted to Shukla by WCD director Divya Umesh Mishra it was stated that the complaint of assault on children in SAA Kanker was found to be true, and it sought an FIR against Dwivedi under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015.

In the report, Mishra sought the suspension of the NGO from operating SAA Kanker with immediate effect as well as cancellation of registration of the NGO. Mishra also recommended disciplinary action against Reena Ladia, District Child Protection Officer.

As per the report, during the inspection on Sunday, Dwivedi admitted the video clip belonged to SAA Kanker and claimed it happened around a year ago.

''Dwivedi said in her statement she thrashed the two girls of the facility as her mental status was not sound then. She also said despite repeated warnings one of the girls used to accept chocolates from unidentified persons while returning from the Anganwadi centre,'' the report said.

Dwivedi apologised for the act and claimed such an incident has never been repeated at the facility, the inspection report stated.