Jharkhand child trafficking: Day after caretaker’s arrest, wife pleads innocence

A day after the Jharkhand police held the shelter home caretaker in connection with a case of illegal trafficking, his wife claimed that they were innocent

A day after the Jharkhand police held the shelter home caretaker in connection with a case of illegal trafficking, his wife claimed that they were innocent.

This photo taken on July 4, 2018 shows police gathered outside the premises of Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity where a staff member and a nun worked before their arrest on child trafficking charges in Ranchi in India's eastern Jharkhand state. (AFP Representative Photo)

Rajni, wife of Satyandra Parkash Musa, caretaker of Paskin Mary Cross child shelter in Phullanwal, Ludhiana, said, “We were unaware that the shelter home had to be registered. We were providing food, clothes, roof and education to underprivileged children and orphans. Three children even got jobs and are now settled.”

She alleged that they were implicated in a forged case. She claimed that they were running the shelter for over ten years without any government help.

Meanwhile, the Jharkhand police took Satyandra Parkash Musa for further investigation.

Jharkhand police got suspicious after details of children, whom the shelter owners claimed were returned to their parents, could not be traced. The child welfare committee sealed the home on August 20.