Following the Rimpu Bagan incident, where police raided a property belonging to Tura MDC last month, the Assembly’s committee for empowerment of women has recommended that all hostels housing children under 18 should be subject to strict codes.
Police raided the farmhouse on suspicion that it was being used as a brothel and for other immoral activities. Dozens of people present were arrested and several minors were taken into care. Tura MDC Bernard Marak was later arrested. He claimed that the property was partly being used as a guesthouse and partly as a hostel for underprivileged children.
“The committee has given its recommendation to officials represented by the Secretary of the Social Welfare Department that, for any hostel facilities housing children under the age of 18, strict codes should be recommended,” chairperson of the committee, Ampareen Lyngdoh MLA, told Highland Post recently.
She said that the committee also recommended that checks and balances are in place on these hostels and that clear advisories are given to these institutions. There should also be regular inspections by the authorities on hostels, which mainly dot Shillong, Tura and Jowai, the three big educational centres of Meghalaya.
The committee has received a report from various departments into the Rimpu Bagan incident and it will be submitted to the Assembly Speaker.
“We cannot disclose much but a report by the departments has also been submitted to us that will go to the Speaker,” Lyngdoh said, adding that the committee will continue to ensure that the concerned departments provide the correct legal aid to the minors rescued from Rimpu Bagan.
“We want to ensure that these young people who have gone through this trauma get all the assistance they deserve, that they continue with their schooling, get counseling from time to time by experts, are kept at a safe location and are not traumatised further,” she added.
The Social Welfare Department informed the committee at its last sitting that all six children who are linked to the incident are being given the necessary protections. However, Lyngdoh said that the committee can only dwell on the welfare of the minors as the rest of the case does not fall within the purview of its responsibilities.
“The well-being and welfare of the minors are our top priority and our main concern remains to make sure that all the needs of the minors are attended to,” she said.
