3 NGO staff in custody for assaulting differently abled child

Guwahati, April 20(PTI): Three staff members of an NGO working for differently abled children have been taken into custody and a case was registered against them for allegedly assaulting and injuring an inmate in one of its homes in Assam’s Kamrup (Metro) district.
The eight-year-old, who hails from Arunachal Pradesh and was put into the home run by Society for Health and Edication Development at Sonapur here recently, was seriously injured and admitted to a private hospital in the city last night, Kamrup (Metro) Deputy Commissioner M Angamuthu said.
The deputy commissioner said he had orderd an inquiry into incident.
Sonapur Circle Officer Dhrubajyoti Hazarika visited the home and conducted an inquiry. He also examined the documents of the NGO to ascertain its legal permission.
After the inquiry, Hazarika lodged an FIR at Sonapur police station.
The police subsequently registered a case and took into custody the home’s manager Hiranya Saikiya, its warden Santi Niketan Sing and cook Kishan Kumar.
Angamuthu said the district administration will take stern legal action against the NGO for inhuman behavior of differently abled children at the institution.
Child rights activist Miguel Das Queah pleaded for strict action against people involved in the assault and urged the state government to pass the Assam Corporal Punishment in Educational Institutions (Prohibition) Bill 2010.
“We will write to Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and Education Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to take necessary steps in this direction,” Queah said.