Orphanage Operator Held
Republica
KATHMANDU, April 2: Police have rescued 20 children from Mukti Nepal, a Maharajgunj-based orphanage, and arrested its operator after finding that the orphanage does not meet minimum standards. The rescued children are aged between five to 15 years.
Police arrested Goma Luitel, chairman of the orphanage, at the behest of the Central Child Welfare Board (CCWB).
“We found the children living in pathetic condition. Six boys and 14 girls were kept in one room,” Lochan Regmi, a CCWB monitoring officer said.
Regmi added that some foreigner, including a representative of Save the Children Norway, had complained about the orphanage.
He said a 12-year-old girl died in the orphanage in November. But the orphanage has not informed about the incident to the CCWB.
“They could not show the authorized documents about the child´s death,” Regmi said adding, “We have been told the child died at Kanti Children´s Hospital, but they showed papers from Kantishwori Cultural Center.”
The children rescued from the orphanage complained they were not given enough food.
“Children were also compelled to go out to fetch water when there was a water shortage at the home,” chief of District Child Welfare Board (DCEB) Suneeta Shah said.
She added that the children themselves had to cook meals and wash clothes. “Some children were not sent to school,” Shah said.
Children have complained that operator Luitel used to beat them.
“The kids were living in a terrible condition. We decided to rescue and transfer them to another home,” Shah said.
She also revealed that children are from the outskirts of the capital and all have parents. The DCWB is working to find their parents. “In the name of charity work, the operator was doing business,” she said.
The orphanage has been operating since 2004.
The CCWB said the orphanage is now closed permanently.
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