26 Girls Missing From Illegally Operated Shelter Home In MP’s Bhopal, FIR Registered

According to sources, most of the girls belonged to the Hindu community and were aged between 6 and 18.

Written by Shivanshi Srivastava January 6, 2024

From an illegally operated shelter home in Bhopal, at least 26 girls from various states, including Gujarat, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh went missing.

NCPCR chairman made unexpected visit to shelter home

When Priyank Kanungo, the chairman of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), paid an unexpected visit to the Aanchal Girls’ Hostel located in the Parwalia area on the outskirts of Bhopal, the incident came to light. Kanungo discovered that although 68 girls’ entries were present in the shelter home’s register, 26 of them were missing.

The victims belonged to these states

The director of the shelter home, Anil Mathew, did not provide “satisfactory answers” when questioned about the missing girls. The police has an FIR regarding the incident. The girls were from Rajasthan, Gujarat, Jharkhand, and some of them were from Madhya Pradesh’s Sehore, Raisen, Chhindwara, and Balaghat. The children’s home, which was also operating illegally, was found to have numerous irregularities, according to the FIR.

कल मध्यप्रदेश की राजधानी भोपाल के तारासेवनिया में राज्य बाल आयोग अध्यक्ष व सदस्यों के साथ संयुक्त रूप से एक मिशनरी द्वारा संचालित अवैध बाल गृह का निरीक्षण किया।
यहाँ की संचालक NGO हाल तक सरकारी एजेन्सी की तरह चाइल्ड लाइन पार्ट्नर के रूप में कार्यरत रही है,एवं इसने सरकारी… pic.twitter.com/yVlWt04c90

— प्रियंक कानूनगो Priyank Kanoongo (@KanoongoPriyank) January 5, 2024

Children were forced to practice Christianity

Kanungo claimed in a tweet that the missionary in charge of the children’s home had saved some kids from the streets and was operating the facility without a license. The NCPCR Chairman further claimed that the individuals who were saved had been forced to convert to Christianity while being held covertly in the children’s home. According to Kanungo, most of the girls belonged to the Hindu community and were aged between 6 and 18. The police registered the FIR after much difficulty.

BJP reacted

BJP leader and former CM of Madhya Pradesh shared a post on X urging the government to look after the incident and take measures needed. “Considering the seriousness and sensitivity of the matter, I urge the government to take note and take immediate action,” he said on X.

Congress reacted

Congress leader Sajjan Singh Verma said, “Along with religious conversion, there is a dirty game of human trafficking and a lot of immoral activities. The BJP does politics in the name of religion and such activities are taking place under their nose. It is shameful.”

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