Outrage as 57 girls test coronavirus positive, 7 pregnant, 1 HIV+ at Kanpur shelter home, NHRC raps UP govt

Fifty-seven girls at a state-run children’s shelter home in Uttar Pradesh’s Kanpur district have tested positive for Covid-19, with five of them found to be pregnant.

Two other girls in the shelter home, who are also pregnant, have tested negative for the virus. One of the inmates has also tested HIV positive and another inmate has hepatitis.

The girls were exhibiting symptoms of Covid-19 for some time but there was “delay” in taking them to the hospital for tests.

“The five pregnant girls, who have been found Covid-19 positive, were referred by the Child Welfare Committees of Agra, Etah, Kannauj, Firozabad and Kanpur under the Pocso Act. Two other pregnant girls have tested negative for Covid-19. The seven girls were pregnant at the time, when they came to the shelter home,” Kanpur DM Brahma Dev Ram Tiwari told reporters.

All girls found Covid-positive are being treated at the Kanpur Medical College. The shelter home has been sealed, and its staff has been quarantined.

The revelation of the coronavirus outbreak at the shelter home has raised serious questions over the management of state-run homes for juveniles.

AUTHORITIES RELEASE INFO ABOUT PREGNANT INMATES

On Monday, the Kanpur administration gave details of the seven pregnant girls who were rescued from the state government-run shelter home in Kanpur.

All of them were pregnant before they were housed in the shelter home and were also medically examined, said authorities.

Out of the seven pregnant inmates, four are victims of the offences under the Pocso act while the remaining three were allegedly abducted or forced to marry. Out of the five Covid-19 positive pregnant girls in the Kanpur shelter home, two have completed over eight months of pregnancy and hence have been admitted at the Covid-19 ward of the district child care hospital.

NHRC SENDS NOTICE TO UP GOVT

The NHRC has sent notices to the Uttar Pradesh government and the state police chief over reports that 57 minor girls tested positive for Covid-19 at the state-run shelter home in Kanpur.

“The National Human Rights Commission has taken suo motu cognisance of media reports that 57 minor girls tested positive for the novel coronavirus at a state-run children’s shelter home in Kanpur district of Uttar Pradesh,” the NHRC said in a statement.

The commission has observed that the contents of the media reports, if true, are “enough to prima facie believe that the public servants have failed to provide safeguard to the victim girls and apparently were negligent in protecting their right to life, liberty and dignity in the custody of the state”.

Accordingly, it has issued a notice to the UP chief secretary, seeking a detailed report, including their health status, medical treatment and counselling, it said.

A notice has also been issued to the UP director general of police for a report regarding the registration of an FIR in this matter and the status of the investigation. The response is expected within from weeks from both the authorities, the statement said.

The state government is expected to order an inquiry into the matter from an independent agency, the NHRC said.

Uttar Pradesh Women’s Commission Vice-President Sushma Singh has also sought information from the Kanpur District Magistrate regarding cases of pregnancy and Covid-19.

UP CHIEF SECY ISSUES NEW PROTOCOLS FOR SHELTER HOMES

After the incident sparked outrage, the Uttar Pradesh Chief Secretary Rajendra Kumar Tiwari on Monday issued strict orders for implementation of all precautions necessary to check the spread of Covid-19 in women’s shelter homes, orphanages and juvenile homes in the state.

Infrared thermometers should be made available for checking all people, including staff members, in women shelter homes, nari niketans, orphanages and juvenile homes, and no one with cold, cough or fever should be allowed entry, the chief secretary said in an official statement, adding that sanitisers should also be provided. Those residing in these facilities should be provided masks and handkerchiefs to cover their faces. Social distancing norms should be followed, he added.

Letters for strict compliance of these directives have been issued to the additional chief secretary and the principal secretaries of the Social Welfare and the Women and Child Development departments, he said.

The caretakers of these homes should reside in the facilities and ensure that all necessary precautions are being taken, the order said.

OPPOSITION SLAMS NEGLIGENCE

In a Facebook post, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had attacked the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh over the media reports about the girls being found pregnant at the shelter home.

“The entire story of the Muzaffarpur shelter home case is in front of the country. Such a case had also come to light in Deoria in UP,” Priyanka Gandhi said.

In this scenario, such an incident again coming out shows that everything is suppressed in the name of investigations, but very inhuman incidents are taking place in government child protection homes, she said.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Monday demanded a probe into the alleged physical exploitation of girls at a state-run shelter home, a day after 57 inmates, five of them pregnant, tested positive for Covid-19.

“The news from the government child protection home in Kanpur has created outrage in Uttar Pradesh. There has been a disclosure of some girls being pregnant. Fifty-seven have been found to be suffering from coronavirus and one from Aids. They should be treated immediately,” Yadav said in a tweet in Hindi.

“The government should immediately start a probe against those involved in physical exploitation,” he added.

(with inputs from Nelanshu Shukla, Shivendra Srivastav in Lucknow and Ranjai Singh in Kanpur)