53 Women Missing From 3 Shelter Homes in UP’s Pratapgarh, Hardoi

District Magistrate Shambhu Kumar paid a surprise visit to two women shelter homes when he found 26 women missing.

RJD, Congress and Communist Party of India legislators stage a protest against the Muzaffarpur shelter home rape case, during the ongoing Monsoon Session, outside Bihar Assembly in Patna on 26 July. Image used for representation.

(Photo: PTI)

Fifty three women were reportedly found missing from three shelter homes run by NGOs in Uttar Pradesh's Pratapgarh and Hardoi districts. However, no complaint has been filed so far.

District Magistrate Shambhu Kumar paid a surprise visit on Wednesday, 8 August, to two women shelter homes in Pratapgarh where 26 women were found missing, reported ANI. The other 27 women were missing from a shelter in Hardoi.

We asked management about the women not present, they said in the afternoon women go out for work. We will visit at night as well to verify.

Shambhu Kumar, DM

The DM and his team first inspected a women’s shelter at Achalpur and then Swadhar Jagriti Grih at Ashtbhuja Nagar .

While at Achalpur, shelter’s records showed 15 women to be present in the documents, but 12 of them weren't there, reported Hindustan Times. In the latter, 14 of the 17 women were reportedly not present.

CBI to Probe Deoria Incident

Earlier, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will probe into the allegations of abuse and sexual assault that surfaced at a shelter home, ‘Maa Vindhyavasini’, in Deoria.

Speaking at a press conference, Adityanath said that a Special Investigation Team is also being set up under ADG Crime.

The CBI had said that there were financial irregularities here in 2015-16. When we came to power in 2017, we ordered its closure. District administration did not act on time, so DM was transferred, and today we have decided to chargesheet him.

At least 24 girls were rescued from the shelter home by the police on 5 August.

Background

A 10-year-old girl, who is originally from the Bettiah district of Bihar, had escaped from the shelter home in Deoria and reached the Women Police Station where she revealed that after 4 pm, people would come in their cars and take girls from the shelter and they would only return late in the night.

The manager of the shelter home Girija Tripathi and her husband Mohan were arrested after they could not give satisfactory answers about the whereabouts of the missing girls. A case has been registered under various sections related to human trafficking, flesh trade and child labour. 

Rohan P Kansi, Superintendent of Police

(With inputs from ANI, Hindustan Times)