Inmates of Bhopal shelter home for disabled children accuse founder of sexually abusing five

Bhopal: Inmates of a privately run residential facility for disabled children in Bhopal Friday accused its founder of sexually abusing two girls and three boys. Opposition Congress in Madhya Pradesh latched onto the issue, alleging that government authorities had ignored a complaint filed in the past against the shelter home’s founder who is also its director. The alleged victims and other inmates of the shelter home, which is located in the Bairagarh area of Bhopal and had a branch in Hoshangabad district until 2017, submitted a complaint to police Friday evening. [caption id=“attachment_5187171” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. Reuters[/caption] Earlier in the day, nearly 40 inmates of the shelter home visited the Congress office in Bhopal, where the party’s state media cell chief Shobha Oza held a press conference. “A girl had complained about sexual harassment by the director to the Hoshangabad collector in February 2017. The complaint was found to be correct but no FIR was registered,” Oza alleged. However, the Hoshangabad branch was closed following the complaint, Oza said. Afterwards, another physically challenged girl and three boys were allegedly sexually abused by the director, the Congress leader claimed. The victims filed a complaint with the Director of the Social Justice Department of the state government on Friday. Later in the evening, the victims along with Congress leaders reached the TT Nagar Police Station in Bhopal to file a complaint. Deputy Inspector General of Police Dharmendra Choudhary said police have received the complaint, and a probe is being conducted. No FIR has been registered yet, another police officer said.