Two years ago, Rani (name changed to protect identity), now 15, lost her mother to an illness. Left in the care of her father, a private company employee, Rani and her younger brother found themselves neglected and unsupported. In September this year, family members sought to marry off the class 9 student. However, timely intervention by an NGO and the police in Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh thwarted the child marriage bid. Following the rescue, Rani was shifted to a care home in Vijayawada, through the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) in the district. Once again, she finds herself in a distressing situation. “The care home staff collected personal information about me and later leaked it,” she says. This breach of trust ironically came to light on the International Day of the Girl Child on October 11.
Rani is among the 200-odd minor girls rescued from different parts of the State and produced before the Krishna CWC whose confidential information was allegedly leaked by a counsellor-cum-social worker last month. The profiles of the minor girls were allegedly given to a CWC member who had the information on a pen drive and compiled a 229-page book with photographs, names, ages, nativity, phone numbers, family details, case history on how they were rescued and sent to the shelter home, as well as their follow-up history. The same CWC member also has a sexual harassment complaint filed against him by a colleague.
