MP:26 girls go missing from illegally-run children's home in Bhopal

In Madhya Pradesh, at least 26 girls from different states, including Gujarat, Jharkhand and Rajasthan,have gone missing from an illegally-run shelter home in Bhopal.Some of them hailed from Sehore, Raisen, Chhindwara and Balaghat in Madhya Pradesh.According to reports, the police have also registered an FIR against a private NGO for running the girls' home without permission.The incident came to light when National Commission for Protection Of Child Rights (NCPCR) chairman Priyank Kanungo made a surprise visit to the Aanchal Girls' Hostel in the Parwalia area on the outskirts of Bhopal. After checking the shelter home's register, Kanungo found that there were entries of 68 girls in it, but 26 of them were missing.When Anil Mathew, the director of the shelter home, was questioned about the missing girls, he did not give "satisfactory answers". An FIR has been filed by the police in the case.In a X post, Kanungo said a missionary, who was managing the children's home, had rescued some children from the streets and was running the shelter home without any licence. The NCPCR Chairman also alleged that those rescued had been kept secretly in the children's house and were made to practice Christianity.
Former Madhya Pradesh CHief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in his post wrote, "The case of disappearance of 26 girls from a children's home operating without permission in Parwalia police station area of ​​Bhopal has come to my notice. Considering the seriousness and sensitivity of the matter, I urge the government to take cognizance and take immediate action."

भोपाल के परवलिया थाना क्षेत्र में बिना अनुमति संचालित बालगृह से 26 बालिकाओं के गायब होने का मामला मेरे संज्ञान में आया है।

मामले की गंभीरता तथा संवेदनशीलता को देखते हुए सरकार से संज्ञान लेने एवं त्वरित कार्रवाई करने का आग्रह करता हूं।

— Shivraj Singh Chouhan (@ChouhanShivraj) January 6, 2024

Former minister and Congress leader Sajjan Singh Verma hit out at the BJP government, alleging that there was a mushrooming of illegal children's homes under their rule. "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," Verma said.