Children illegally confined in prayer centre rescued

Children illegally confined in prayer centre rescued

Mangalore Today News Network

Pics by Raghunath Kamath Kenchanakere

Mulky, Apr 3: The officials of Woman and Child Welfare Department in Haleyangady, close to Mulky rescued a group of children, who were illegally confined and pressurized to change their religious beliefs. The officials learned about this incident when they conducted an inspection following a complaint regarding clogged drains lodged by the local people.

Allegedly, K. J. Joy and Elizabeth, who are running a prayer centre, are responsible for confining a number of children illegally. The local people got suspicious about the working of this centre, which is located close to the railway gate. They were also furious about the waste and dirty water flowing down the drain from the building, following which they lodged a complaint.        

                     





When the Haleyangady Gram Panchayat officials raided the place, they found that the children were physically abused and forced to do hard domestic chores. The children also admitted that they had been working at the centre for the past 3 years.

When questioned, K. J. Joy rubbished the allegations and said that he was only running a children’s hostel and that he was providing shelter and education to orphans below the age of 15. He said that the “hostel” received financial support from foreign countries. However, he could not provide the required documents supporting his claim. The GP, therefore, complained to the Woman and Child Welfare Department, which raided the place and rescued the kids.

Investigation revealed that the couple had neither taken the GPs permission nor the department’s permission to run the centre. A girl from the centre has also accused the man of raping her. She has been taken for medical examination and the results are yet to come in. Four more girls have mysteriously disappeared from the centre. The children have also accused the couple of forcing them to read the Bible and live like Christians.

Joy and his family have been arrested; and the kids are now in the child protection centre.