Haryana: Scandal-hit Apna Ghar shelter house sealed

 The Apna Ghar shelter house here, which was hit by allegations of women and children being sexually assaulted and tortured including by police officials, has been sealed.

The house was sealed last night on the directives of Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) M S Mann, who has been deputed as head of Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe allegations of sexual abuse of children and women in the home.

The entire sealing process was video-graphed by police authorities. No inmate was at the house at the time as they have already been shifted to other NGOs in Rohtak and other districts of the state, police said.

The shelter house has been sealed so that a fresh probe into the episode could be conducted after taking stock of the real picture, police said.

"Record of all inmates, donation slips and other important documents are still kept in different rooms of the shelter house. Hence it became necessary to seal all rooms of the house for fair probe into the matter," said a member of the SIT.

Apna Ghar shelter house had landed into a controversy when a team of National Commission for Protection of Child Right (NCPCR) rescued nearly 120 people, including children and women, from the house after carrying out a surprise raid here on May 9.

The shelter house was being run by an NGO Bharat Vikas Sangh for several years.
Seven people have so far been arrested in connection with the case.

Haryana Director General of Police Ranjiv Singh Dalal had on Wednesday constituted a Special Investigation Team to inquire into the entire episode in which involvement of several state policemen has been alleged.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court had constituted a four-member committee of lawyers to inspect various shelters in the state identifying cases of sexual abuse or torture.