On Thursday, National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) chairman, Priyank Kanoongo tweeted that there have been several complaints concerning Christian priests promoting superstition in the name of treatment of children and pushing them towards conversion to Christianity.
“Some complaints have been received from Punjab and Rajasthan about priests spreading superstition in the name of treatment of children and deceiving them for conversion, action is being taken,” NCPCR chairman tweeted.
बच्चों के इलाज के नाम पर अंधविश्वास फैलाने व धर्मांतरण के लिए भ्रमित करने वाले पादरियों के बारे में पंजाब व राजस्थान की कुछ शिकायतें मिली हैं,कार्यवाही की जा रही है।
— प्रियंक कानूनगो Priyank Kanoongo (@KanoongoPriyank) September 29, 2022
शिकायतें व विडीओ मुझे [email protected] पर ईमेल करें,विडीओ सोशल मीडिया पर प्रसारित न करें,बच्चों की निजता बनाए रखें।
He further recommended people to send their complaints and recordings to “[email protected]” and refrain from sharing the videos on social media, in order to maintain the privacy of children.
It is important to note that the number of Christian sects is rapidly increasing in Punjab. These self-styled pastors and ‘ministers’ organize healing sessions or Changai Sabhas and often employ weird techniques to fool gullible people that Jesus Christ is healing their fatal illnesses and thus trick them into conversion.
Following two appalling incidents of atrocities against girls in Dumka, Jharkhand, Priyank Kanoongo had previously scheduled a visit to Dumka to meet with the Deputy Commissioner and the Superintendent of Police.
“The Commission has learned of yet another alleged rape and murder of a young tribal girl on Friday by a guy by the name of Arman Ansari…under Mufassil police station. In its report, ANI cited an NCPCR official notification as saying, “The culprit, named Arman Ansari, has been apprehended and a complaint has been registered under relevant sections of the IPC, POCSO, and SC-ST Act.
“In addition to the scheduled visit of NCPCR team led by Shri Priyank Kanoongo, Chairperson, NCPCR to Dumka on September 5, 2022, as communicated by letter dated August 31, 2022, the team will also take notice of the status of the said incident on September 5, 2022, by convening a meeting with the DC, SP, Investigating Officer of the case, Doctors who conducted the autopsy of the minor victim girl, as well as to meet/interact with the family of the minor girl,” it added.
“Murder and rape case reported under the SC/ST Act and the Protection of Children Against Sexual Offenses (POCSO) Act. Armaan Ansari, the accused, was arrested. The Superintendent of Police for Dumka, Amber Lakra, indicated that soon after gathering evidence, a charge sheet would be filed.
In this case, a 14-year-old indigenous girl was found hanging from a tree.
Jharkhand | The deceased girl found hanging from a tree in Dumka is a minor, tribal girl. Accused Arman Ansari booked under sec 302 of IPC, SC ST & POCSO Act. Matter being investigated. Whether she was pregnant or not will be known once postmortem has been conducted: SP Dumka https://t.co/DFS8LJToSQ
— ANI (@ANI) September 4, 2022
Notably, the NCPCR chairman on September 5 had alleged that the Jharkhand government is being uncooperative and impeding the probe into the deaths of two young girls in separate incidents in Dumka district. The NCPCR director shared his difficulties contacting and visiting the victims’ relatives on Twitter.
In a tweet, Kanoongo wrote back then, “I have come to Dumka to investigate two cases, had informed the Jharkhand government earlier that the family of a Scheduled Tribe girl who was raped and hanged from a tree, will be visited by a team of @NCPCR_ on which the local collector had also consented.”
दुमका में दो मामलों की जाँच के लिए आया हूँ,झारखंड सरकार को पूर्व सूचित किया था कि अनुसूचित जनजाति की जिस बच्ची की बलात्कार के बाद हत्या कर शव पेड़ से लटका दिया गया था,उसके परिवार से @NCPCR_ की टीम मिलेगी जिस पर स्थानीय कलेक्टर ने सहमति भी दी थी।
— प्रियंक कानूनगो Priyank Kanoongo (@KanoongoPriyank) September 5, 2022
He continued, “And after deciding the program to go to the victim’s residence, the administration had confirmed us,” in a later tweet. However, when we arrived in their village and the parents were nowhere to be found, the neighbors informed us that the parents had been taken in a vehicle before we arrived. The government’s approach is very uncooperative and impeding the probe.
