HC to treat orphanage case as pil; hearing today

The shocking details of sexual assault and harassment of children at an orphanage in Daryaganj has caught the attention of the Delhi High Court in the form of an email.

The shocking details of sexual assault and harassment of children at an orphanage in Daryaganj has caught the attention of the Delhi High Court in the form of an email.

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Acting Chief Justice AK Sikri, who received the email, promptly decided to convert it into a public interest litigation (PIL) and fixed it for hearing on Wednesday.

One Bharti Ali had sent the email to justice Sikri with attachments of various newspaper reports on the incidents in the orphanage. Requesting a probe and asking for “urgent intervention” by the court and the government, the email said that “the children in the orphanage are being subjected to various kinds of suffering”.

The incidents were brought to light by a voluntary organisation named Haq Foundation. Their findings were based on personal interviews and interaction with the children who live in the orphanage.

The report alleged that older residents and staff members of the orphanage subjected a number of children to physical abuse and sexual assault.

Police had asked Haq Foundation for assistance in investigating the death of an 11-year-old girl who lived in the orphanage.