The seven-year-old boy Ishank Patnayak who was found by locals and police near Nepal House Secretariat naked with injury marks all over his body due to violence by his foster parents will be returning home by Monday after the District Child Protection Unit traced his father’s address.
An FIR against the doctor couple who “forced him to child labour” and “beat him mercilessly” may be filed in a couple of days. The district child protection unit contacted his family and came to know that the boy is a runaway child. He actually ran away from his home when his parents scolded him on a trivial issue. They tried searching for him on their own and later registered a missing complaint at the Jhinkpani police station in West Singhbhum district.
“The family of the child is extremely poor and does not have a cell phone. The child’s mother died grieving his son’s absence. His father used to work as a house painter but became mentally disturbed after his son went missing and is currently unemployed. His grandmother works as a housemaid to feed his son and another 3 year old grandson,” said a government official at the Collectorate.
She further informed that the child will be handed over to child line in Rourkela, Odisha by Monday morning from where his relative K. Bhima, whom Ishank calls Mama, will collect him. Due to poor financial status the child’s family is unable to come down to Ranchi to receive the child, she added.
Ishank was found in a pitiable condition near Nepal house on December 5. He had injuries across the body, which he said were inflicted by his foster parents (A doctor couple) staying nearby. The locals rescued the boy arranged his first aid and called Doranda police who handed him over to Child line at Kokar, Ranchi.
Upon inquiry it was found that the child was missing from Rourkela for over 2 years and was sent to Children Care, an orphanage in East Singhbhum. He stayed there for about a year and then was handed over to Dr. Shekhar Choudhary in Ranchi for foster care in September 2014. Ishank says that the doctor’s family made him do domestic work like washing clothes and utensils and beat him every now and then for petty reasons.
The child was brought to Child line Kokar on the night of December 5 and produced before Children Welfare Committee (CWC) Ranchi on December 6 morning. During the counseling, he told about how he got lost in a fair, his family members and the cruelty he suffered at Dr. Choudhary’s house.
Notably, no FIR has been registered against the doctor couple or any other person even after six days of the incident. The authorities are awaiting response from the Child Welfare Committee, Ranchi for lodging the FIR. Sources said that the FIR will be lodged by Friday or Saturday after the CWC Chairperson (in-charge) Jahan Ara comes back from outstation.
The CWC Chairperson said that she would come back ina couple of days and then the FIR would be lodged with due process. About the delay in lodging the FIR she said that the concerned authorities have been informed and they would soon act to book the culprits.
During a brief interaction with the Pioneer, Ishank narrated how Polly aunty and lalita aunty did not give him clothes to wear so that he could not run away and locked him inside the home whenever they went out. He also said how he was beaten by a lady on petty issues.The child is ignorant of his mother’s death and misses his school and home a lot.