Orphaned kids made to slave in eatery

Laxmi (13), Saraswati (11) and Durga (9) were illegally taken out of an orphanage(TOI Photo)MUMBAI: In a case that mirrors the appalling condition of state child care, three orphaned siblings have been illegally plucked out of a Malvani orphanage by a neighbour and been made to slave in a local eatery. The girls told TOI that they desperately want to be freed from the shackles of the neighbour who abuses and beats them, makes them slave in her shack until past midnight, and keeps them locked behind a grille when she is away.
The gruesome story of the Pradhan sisters began last year when Laxmi (13), Saraswati (11) and Durga (9), fondly called Devi, lost their mother to tuberculosis.Their father was already dead and since their elder brother Vishwanath (19) could not support all of them, they were sent to Prem Sadan, an orphanage in Malad. Their guardian angel who helped them get into Prem Sadan was their primary headmistress at St Anthony's School, Agnes Salian.
A month later, however, a neighbour from their chawl, a middle-aged woman called E Radhamani picked them up from outside school and took them to her room, which is exactly opposite their old room. Salian reported this to the police who took 12 days to react. Salian says the police bought Radhamani's argument that she was afraid of the girls being ���converted in a Catholic institution''.
It's only when child rights organisation Balprafulta stepped in and warned the cops that it was illegal for Radhamani to keep the kids that the police put them in the care of the child welfare committee (CWC), a government body that places destitute children in observation homes. The girls were housed in the Mankhurd observation home.
Things took a twist when the CWC sent the girls to Dayavihar, an orphanage in Radhamani's neighbourhood. This was in November 2007. In February this year, Radhamani took the children back to her home. Neither the state, nor Balprafulta, the NGO appointed by the CWC to submit monthly reports on the children, has intervened. The girls have not been to school since they left Prem Sadan.
Ever since February, they have been living with Radhamani. According to the children, they are beaten and made to work all day at Annapurna Hotel, a rundown shack run by Radhamani, from where she supplies fast food and tea. Neighbours say the girls come home only at 1 am, and sometimes even later.
When TOI visited Malwani on Sunday, the girls were locked behind a grill door along with Radhamani's 13-year-old son Raghuram. Radhamani was out. They were terrified, but managed, in whispered conversations through the grill, to talk about their plight.
Later on Tuesday, during a clandestine meeting with the girls, Laxmi poured it all out: ���She (Radhamani) beats us with a cane, with a big spoon...she even scratches us with her nails. She scratched Devi's ear so badly it started bleeding. She locks us up and doesn't want us to talk to anyone except her. She makes us lug buckets of water up and down stairs from her home to the hotel. Saraswati works almost the whole day, because she is fast at the job.'' Like her brother, Laxmi speaks English though she is more comfortable in Hindi and Oriya.
Salian has received a number of distress phone calls from the children over the last one month. ���Sometimes they call me 10 times a day. They even cry on the phone,'' she said.
Radhamani, when contacted on her cellphone, denied everything. ���How can I beat them? I love the three girls like my own, and they think of me as their mother. It was I who got them enrolled in Dayavihar. I took them out because they fell ill. I am the only one they have,'' she said.
According to her, she has a written note to show that the girls' mother wanted her to look after them if something happened to her. The children however say that the papers are ���duplicate''. Salian adds that a fortnight before the mother died, she met Salian and begged her, ���Whatever happens to me, don't let Radhamani get my kids. Radhamani ne sab kuch barbaad kiya mera.''
Neighbours in the Malwani chawl described Radhamani as a foul-mouthed woman who regularly loses her temper. They said that the girls were made to feed Radhamani's dogs beef. ���The dogs are unclean and neglected. It is a hazard for all of us,'' said a neighbour. They added that Radhamani had once threatened Laxmi with, ���If you act too smart I'll throw you before the men.'' Anyone who tries to help the children is branded ���Dhandewali''.
TOI visited the hotel on Tuesday incognito. Radhamani was in a nightie at 12.30 pm, grumpy and swearing that she had to do the cooking. Her two cooks had deserted her. Ten minutes into our visit, the girls trooped in. ���How long does it take you to bring clothes?'' Radhamani barked, shoving Saraswati into the kitchen. The girls told us later that they were often fed stale food and that the youngest one has been ill off and on. The girls took turns to come out and talk to us. Every time there was word that Radhamani was asking about the missing one, they would panic.
When Asha John of Dayavihar was asked why she had allowed Radhamani to take away the girls, John said that in February all three of them had chicken pox and Vishwanath offered to take them home. Radhamani had come with him.
���After all, we have water problems at the orphanage, and Radhamani said there was a continuous supply of water at her home,'' said John, who added that she had met the three girls a few days ago at the shop, and they seemed happy.
Although Dayavihar may not have regular water, conditions here are far better than in the Mankhurd Observation Home, said the girls. They have unpleasant memories of the Mankhurd home, and don't want to go back there. ���Everybody's clothes got mixed up there. When we hung our clothes to dry, other children would often take them away and wear them. We all got scabies,'' said Saraswati.
Nobody at the suburban CWC, which governs the Mankhurd OH, was available for comment. TOI finally got through to a committee member, Mrs Dhemre, who said she was surprised to learn that the girls, who came from a middle-class family, had become labourers. ���I don't know if Balprafulta has submitted a report to us (as ordered by the CWC in February). How can I tell you unless I look at the file?''she said. Dhemre could not remember the name of her chairperson who has signed the February order.
Snehalata Burute, the social worker from Balprafulta who is supposed to submit monthly reports on the girls to CWC, would not pick up her cellphone or reply to SMSes for two days.
TOI also got in touch with Vishwanath, who in fact has been living in his own house bang opposite Radhamani's but has not been able to speak to his sisters privately. This was evident when Devi came into the room and choked with emotion when she saw her brother sitting there. ���I urgently need to put my sisters in an orphanage or a convent, and I badly need a job,'' Vishwanath beseeched us.
Vishwanath said that Radhamani has been asking him to rent out his house to her for her cooks. A neighbour said she saw Radhamani slap Laxmi and ask her who had removed the ���property papers'' from her house.
Two days after our visit, we have received a number of distress calls from the girls, begging us to act swiftly: ���Didi, please write the article fast. And get us out of here.''
anahita.mukherji@timesgroup.com
pranati.mehra@timesgroup.com