HC fines former CWC chief, members for detaining girl

The High Court of Karnataka of Tuesday imposed Rs 10,000 fine each on former chairperson and members of the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) for illegal detention of a girl at their centre.

A division bench comprising Justice Ravi Malimath and Justice John Michael Cunha imposed the cost on K Anitha Shivakumar, T S Vishalakshi, Vidya Aithnal and Srinivas.

The girl’s father Sriram Reddy had filed a habeas corpus contending that his daughter is a major and was detained by the chairperson and members of CWC. On the false assumption that the girl was a minor, the committee had detained the girl at their centre for three days. The girl was working as a house maid and brought by a doctor couple to their centre.

The girl was actually visiting her relatives from where she was picked. As the chair person and the members were already being removed by the government, the bench did not want to press more charges and disposed off the matter.