‘Kids at Asha Kiran treated like animals’

"You are keeping them like animals. Are they cattle? There cannot be any worse kind of human rights violations than this," said a Delhi high court bench, slamming the Delhi government and an NGO over the "inhuman" conditions at a home run by them for mentally challenged children.

"You are keeping them like animals. Are they cattle? There cannot be any worse kind of human rights violations than this," said a Delhi high court bench, slamming the Delhi government and an NGO over the "inhuman" conditions at a home run by them for mentally challenged children.

HT Image

Seeking a response from the Delhi government, the bench comprising Acting Chief Justice AK Sikri and Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw made the remarks after seeing photographs of the living conditions of the inmates at Asha Kiran Home run by the Delhi government in collaboration with an NGO, Hope Foundation.

The bench sought a detailed affidavit from the ministry of social welfare under Delhi government and asked for details of the total number of inmates and the staff. The court also sought the presence of the home's administrator on the next date of hearing on July 25.

The court passed the order after a committee of three lawyers, set up by it earlier, submitted the photographs about the living conditions at the home after inspecting it on July 14.

The panel of lawyers alleged that during their visit to the Asha Kiran home, no senior officer was available and a security guard had illegally detained them following an instruction from his senior.