High political drama continued till late night at NGO ChildLine over the custody of a minor domestic help. The 11-year-old girl was rescued from a government official’s residence in Limbodi village on Thursday.
Gajanand Jatt, assistant seed officer at the Madhya Pradesh Seed and Farm Development Corporation and his wife Neelam Jatt had allegedly employed an eleven-year-old girl for household chores around three weeks ago.
Even though the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) had ordered the rescuing agencies including the ChildLine, labour department and the women and child development department to keep the girl in the NGO’s custody until the next hearing, people involved in operation told dna that Jatt and his wife are building political pressure on them to release the girl and to sweep the matter under the carpet.
Wishing anonymity, an official told dna, “It is 10 pm now and we are still receiving calls from people claiming to be men of MLA Ramesh Mendola. They are pressurising us to hand over the custody of the rescued child to the couple.”
Ramesh Mendola couldn’t be reached for comments.
Even though the Child Welfare Committee held its hearing for deciding fate of the minor, it failed to record her statement which officials believe was on account of political pressure.
Jatt told the CWC that they had brought the girl from Dewas for her treatment. However, he failed to provide any medical documents to support the claim. ChildLine member Dipesh Chauksey said, “The girl has not said anything so far and will be provided shelter at the special home at Pardeshipura.”
The matter was reported to the NGO on Thursday morning through an anonymous call on their helpline number 1098. A team of ChildLine, WCD and Labour officials raided Jatt’s house where the girl was found. The next hearing of the CWC is due on Tuesday. The custody of the minor girl will be handed over to either her parents or couple at CWC’s discretion.
2 minor girls sent to special home: Two girls aged eight and nine years respectively were found alone on the streets at Ahirkhedi. The girls were sent to special home for girls for night stay by ChildLine. ChildLine member Dipesh Chauksey said, “Mahila Thana had sent the two girls to us and said that they left their house on being scolded by parents.”
