Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh): As many as 57 girl inmates of the Uttar Pradesh government’s child protection home in Kanpur are confirmed to have been infected with COVID19. Moreover, seven of juvenile girls in the protection home have been found to be pregnant, five of them as coronavirus positive cases. These girls were found to have been infected during tests carried out from June 14. This was confirmed by the Kanpur Divisional Commissioner Dr Sudhir M Bobde.
According to Kanpur district collector Dr Brahmadevram Tiwari, a total of 57 girls in the protection home were tested positive for COVID-19. A total of seven girls were found to be pregnant of whom five were found infected with coronavirus and the remaining two without infection. Those five infected with coronavirus were sent to Kanpur by the child welfare committee of Agra, Eta, Kannauj, Firozabad and Kanpur city. The girls were already pregnant before coming to Kanpur and the administration was fully aware of this fact. Of the COVID-19 infected pregnant girls, two have been admitted to LLR Hospital of Kanpur and three to Rama Medical College for treatment.
Read:| Kanpur: 57 girls at children's shelter home test COVID-19 positive, 5 of them pregnant
According to information on the coronavirus infected girls, one is HIV positive and another is suffering from Hepatitis C because of which the health department is concerned about their well-being. Doctors treating the pregnant girls do not know their medical history and so have contacted the officials concerned. The government girls child protection home at Kanpur’s Swaroop Nagar has been sealed and all its staff members have been put under quarantine.
Girls will be sent to their homes: Child Protection Commission
The Child Protection Commission has taken cognizance of the issue after the reports about the spread of coronavirus infection in the Kanpur Girl Child Protection Home came into light. Commission chairman Vishesh Gupta said that the girls willing to return to their homes would be sent back soon. The commission has appointed a one-member inquiry to look into the case. However, the Commission clarified that only those girls, who had absconded from their homes or had lost their way and reached the protection home, would be sent back to their homes. Those victims under the POSCO would not be sent home because of their security concerns. The one-man team of the Commission will soon visit the Kanpur shelter home and submit its report to the government.
How did the girl inmates get the infection
A girl inmate of the protection home had got a fever last week. She was found to be coronavirus positive during the test done on June 14. After this, all the 97 girls residing in the protection home were tested by the medical team. It was for the first time on June 17 that 33 girls living in Swaroop Nagar protection home were found infected with the coronavirus. The next day, 17 other girls were found to be COVID positive. Though as many as 50 girls were found to have been infected by the virus, the administration did not take any safety measures. It is alleged that neither was the protection home sanitized nor the infected girls were placed under quarantine. As a result, by June 19, seven more girls were infected, taking the total number of coronavirus infected girls to 57. There were in all 157 girls staying in the protection home. It is still not known from whom did the girls catch the infection.
Read:| UP Chief Secy orders implementation of precautions against Coronavirus in shelter homes
It was only after the girls were admitted to Rama Medical College that the health department came to know about the pregnancy of seven of the inmates. Two of the pregnant girls are 17 years’ old and their pregnancy is 7 months old. One of the pregnant girls is HIV positive while another is suffering from Hepatitis C. Two minor girls have been referred to Hallot for treatment.
Bad history of Kanpur protection home:
Earlier too, the Swaroop Nagar Girls Protection home has witnessed questionable incidents.
1. In 2018, an inmate had died in suspicious conditions. It was suspected that the inmate was murdered after rape. The district probation officer was transferred after the incident.
2. Following this, another inmate had committed suicide by hanging herself.
3. In 2009, some inmates had escaped from the protection home following an allegation of child abuse.
What does Uttar Pradesh State Commission for Women chairperson Bimla Batham say?
Bimla Batham was found defending the state government. Speaking exclusively with ETV Bharat, she claimed that seven of the coronavirus infected girls in the protection home were pregnant before they came to the institution. UP government trying to take possession of the record. She said that after the revelation of coronavirus cases, instructions have been given to all the District Magistrates to ensure that all the shelter homes in their district are properly cleaned and sanitized.
Read:| SP chief demands probe into abuse of minor girls at Kanpur shelter home
State Women’s Commission member Poonam Kapoor's reaction:
Talking to ETV Bharat, member of the State Women’s Commission Poonam Kapoor said that Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has taken cognizance of the entire case. She also suggested shifting of the shelter home to some other place.
UP Child Welfare Committee member Sangeeta Sharma's reaction:
Sangeeta stated that at the very beginning of the outbreak of coronavirus pandemic, it was decided to set up a separate quarantine facility in all the shelter homes. This was done in many districts.
"It is a matter of inquiry if this was done in Kanpur or not," she added.
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कानपुर के सरकारी बाल संरक्षण गृह से आई ख़बर से उप्र में आक्रोश फैल गया है. कुछ नाबालिग लड़कियों के गर्भवती होने का गंभीर खुलासा हुआ है. इनमें 57 कोरोना से व एक एड्स से भी ग्रसित पाई गयी है, इनका तत्काल इलाज हो.
— Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) June 22, 2020 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="
सरकार शारीरिक शोषण करनेवालों के ख़िलाफ़ तुरंत जाँच बैठाए.
">कानपुर के सरकारी बाल संरक्षण गृह से आई ख़बर से उप्र में आक्रोश फैल गया है. कुछ नाबालिग लड़कियों के गर्भवती होने का गंभीर खुलासा हुआ है. इनमें 57 कोरोना से व एक एड्स से भी ग्रसित पाई गयी है, इनका तत्काल इलाज हो.
— Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) June 22, 2020
सरकार शारीरिक शोषण करनेवालों के ख़िलाफ़ तुरंत जाँच बैठाए.कानपुर के सरकारी बाल संरक्षण गृह से आई ख़बर से उप्र में आक्रोश फैल गया है. कुछ नाबालिग लड़कियों के गर्भवती होने का गंभीर खुलासा हुआ है. इनमें 57 कोरोना से व एक एड्स से भी ग्रसित पाई गयी है, इनका तत्काल इलाज हो.
— Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) June 22, 2020
सरकार शारीरिक शोषण करनेवालों के ख़िलाफ़ तुरंत जाँच बैठाए.
Former UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav expressed anger:
Samajwadi Party president and former Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav demanded an inquiry into the case and complete treatment for all the coronavirus infected inmates of the shelter home.
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra attacks Yogi government:
Congress General Secretary for UP East Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, in her Facebook post, charged the Kanpur Protection Home with negligence and expressed the suspicion that the girls might have been subjected to exploitation.
However, the Kanpur administration has denied the allegation.
Read:| Priyanka attacks Uttar Pradesh government over media report about Kanpur child shelter home
