Officials of the Juvenile Welfare, Correctional Services and Welfare of Street Children Department have reportedly launched an inquiry into the safety of the minor girls whose profiles including mobile phone numbers, photos, addresses and family details have allegedly been leaked.
The NTR district administration and the Juvenile Welfare Department officials are inquiring into the alleged leaks of profiles of minor girls from a Vijayawada-based shelter home.
A social worker associated with the shelter home located in the Krishnalanka area allegedly handed over the data of the minor girls to a member of the Krishna District Child Welfare Committee (CWC). The racket was busted on October 11 when a book containing the profiles of the girls was found in the CWC office.
“Inquiry has revealed that the CWC member made the book of the profiles of the rescued girls a few months ago and saved the data in a pen drive,” said an inquiry officer said.
The juvenile welfare officials were understood to have informed Sub-Collector Aditi Singh, who inquired into the issue, that the CWC member took away the data after giving an undertaking to the shelter home management, without the knowledge of other members of the committee.
“We visited the houses of a few girls whose data was leaked, met their family members, and inquired about their safety. Our officers will meet more victims soon,” an officer of the Juvenile Welfare Department said.
“As the profiles containing the mobile phone numbers, addresses, education status, details of family members and others were leaked, we are verifying the safety of the girls released from the shelter home,” the officer said.
Now, a few girls were staying in the shelter home from where the data were leaked. “We are focussing on the safety of the girls staying in the home,” a CWC member said.
The officials are planning to contact the minor girls from other States whose profiles were leaked from the home some 25 days ago, an inquiry officer said.
Minor girls hailing from Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Telangana and other States, who were rescued in child marriage, POCSO Act, missing and drug abuse cases, were referred to the shelter home, and an employee of the child care institution allegedly leaked their data, the officer added.
