Sambalpur: Police in Sambalpur district arrested the secretary and a female caretaker of a rehabilitation centre for mentally ill individuals in the Putibandh area on Tuesday, after allegations surfaced of physical abuse and mistreatment of the centre’s inmates.
Harish Chandra Das, the secretary, and Swagatika Pradhan, the caretaker, were taken into custody and produced in court on Tuesday. The case came to light after an ex-employee of the centre shared disturbing videos of the abuse on social media.
The videos, filmed by the former employee, show mentally ill residents being kicked, beaten with water pipes and sticks, and subjected to degrading treatment. One of the videos also revealed female inmates being asked to unclothe themselves in front of male inmates, while both male and female residents bathed naked.
Pradhan defended her actions, claiming that the inmate she struck in the video was ‘stubborn’ and had attacked her first.
The ex-employee, who had worked at the centre for just two weeks, sent the videos to Rengali MLA Sudarshan Haripal, who immediately informed the Dhanupali police. Following an investigation, the police confirmed the abuse and raided the centre.
Sambalpur collector SB Bondar said, “After watching the viral videos, we immediately dispatched an inquiry team to the rehab centre.The process to blacklist the NGO running the centre has begun.”
Thabira Mahananda, district social security officer, said, “Upon visiting the centre, we found that inmates had been tortured. Based on this, we initiated action against the secretary.”
Currently, 41 inmates are residing at the centre, and officials confirmed they will be transferred to the Baijamunda Multipurpose Complex within a week.