Three caretakers at a child welfare home in Kerala's Thiruvananthapuram have been arrested for allegedly assaulting a two-and-a-half-year-old girl, causing injuries to her genitals, said Kerala Police, on Tuesday, December 3.
The police arrested the accused after the complaint filed by the Secretary of Kerala State Council for Child Welfare, which accused the caretakers of assaulting the child for urinating in bed. The caretakers Ajitha, Maheshwari, and Sindhu are facing charges under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act for the assault and for attempting to conceal the incident, said police.
According to the police, Ajitha is the main accused of doing harm to an infant, while Maheshwari and Sindhu are alleged to have covered up the crime. The child, along with her five-year-old sibling, was brought to the welfare home after their mother's death and their father's subsequent suicide.
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The two-and-a-half-year-old frequently urinated in bed and was allegedly pinched and injured as punishment. The injuries were discovered when a fourth caretaker took over the child's care for a day and conveyed the information to higher authorities. All three arrested caretakers have been working at the welfare home for years.