Urgent need for rescue home in Medak district

Sarada (name changed), a deaf and dumb orphan and a victim of human trafficking, was 18 when she was sexually abused and left to fend for herself.

She was found loitering on the streets of Sadashivapet in Medak district about a month ago when some Good Samaritans informed CARPED, an NGO working at Sangareddy, who picked her up and brought her to the district headquarters.

However, providing safe custody for the hapless victim became a cause for concern for the staff of CARPED as it was not a rescue home nor shelter run by the government for such people. She had to be referred to the State home in Yousufguda with a letter from the project director of Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS). As that effort also failed, she was again referred to a home at Kukatpally with intervention through an official at the Secretariat level.

This sums up the plight of orphans and destitutes who need rescue homes and shelters to protect themselves. It is estimated that about 2,000 orphan or destitute cases are reported in the district every year making about five cases per day irrespective of the age. However, the officials put the figure very low, while accepting that there are no homes in the district to take care of them.

“The officials furnish figures which are reported to them. What about the cases which are not being reported,” asks M.S. Chandra, Director of CARPED. Even the police admit that they receive about 60-70 cases of missing persons every year making it one case per week. When an orphan is rescued they hand them over to the ICDS officials.

The need for a rescue home was identified four years ago by then Collector A. Suresh Kumar but there was no progress. “We need a rescue home urgently to address the problems of orphans and destitute,” said a police officer.

“Every year we are handing over about 30 persons to the State home. Having a home in the district will be helpful in handling such cases,” said an official in the ICDS.

However, another official in the ICDS said that two open homes were sanctioned for the district -- one at Siddipet and another at Sangareddy -- and they were expected to get started shortly.