14-year-old sent by High court to Christian service home 5 months pregnant

Jan 03 2016 : The Times of India (Chennai) 14-year-old in govt-certified home found 5 mths pregnant Divya Chandrababu Chennai: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/14-year-old-in-govt-certified-home-found-5-mths-pregnant/articleshow/50422369.cms   Rescued from a gang of traffickers, a 14-yearold girl, who was placed in government care a year ago, is now five months pregnant.With doctors confirming the pregnancy, the Madras high court will take a decision on her condition on Tuesday .The shocking abuse came to light when the girl, missing from the Madras Christian Council of Social Service (MCCSS) in Perambur for five months, was produced in the mahila court on the Madras high court premises on December 22 based on a habeas corpus petition. The CWC is likely to recommend to the collector to take action against the home for gross negligence. “We have been sending minor victims of trafficking to this cen tre for rehabilitation since 2012,“ CWC acting chairperson Sheela Charles told TOI.“We had sent this girl to the home on orders from the probation officer of social defence,“ she said. After the death of her mother, the minor was living with her brother and father on the pavement near Moore Market. She was sent to live with her paternal grandmother for her safety . A distant relative in Bengaluru, Krishnaveni, offered to help the girl find a job and took her in. Krishnaveni and her husband Elangovan took the girl to Bengaluru where they forced her into commercial sex. They later returned to Chennai with her. The CBCID rescued the minor in October 2014. “We found the girl in a hotel on Wallajah Road,“ said CBCID anti-trafficking cell inspector John Victor. “We imprisoned Krishnaveni, her husband, a broker and the customer. We handed over the girl to the government-run home in Kellys.“ The CWC shifted her to MCCSS as she needed counselling. But the girl went missing on July 20, 2015. The home, however, lodged a missing complaint only two days later and did not inform the CWC until October 6. An advocate representing the CWC filed a habeas corpus petition in the Madras HC on December 16.While the court posted the case to December 22 after admonishing the CWC and the home, the girl mysteriously returned on December 18. On December 22, staff from the home told the court the rehab centre did not have a guard or a CCTV camera. The K5 police investigating the case and the MCCSS head did not respond to calls. In September last year, another 14-year-old girl gave birth to a baby after she was allegedly raped by a 65-yearold owner of the Good Shepherd Children's Home near Selayur in the city suburbs.“The girl and her baby were also sent to MCCSS for rehabilitation but have been shifted to another centre as it doesn't have proper facilities,“ said child rights activist A Narayanan, a petitioner in the case. “This girl too went missing for a few days and came back to the home. Either the security is abysmal or there is something fishy.“