Updated: June 22, 2020 7:20:10 am
“Pregnant girls are victims of crimes committed under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses Act (POCSO)… two of them were pregnant when they arrived home in December. She is about eight months pregnant, ”said Shruti Shukla, Deputy Chief Probation Officer. (File photo / representative)
Seventy-five inmates, including five pregnant girls from a shelter home in Kanpur, have tested positive for coronovirus in the last four days. A female Class IV employee also tested positive at the shelter site.
One in five pregnant girls is HIV positive, while the other is infected with hepatitis C, Deputy Chief Probation Officer Shruti Shukla said.
District Magistrate of Kanpur Brahma Dev Ram Tiwari said the five girls were pregnant when they came to the shelter home and were from Agra, Etah, Kannauj, Firozabad and Kanpur.
“Pregnant girls are victims of crimes committed under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses Act (POCSO)… two of them were pregnant when they arrived home in December. She is about eight months pregnant, ”Shukla said.
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The superintendent of the house said that the spread of the virus came to light when a prisoner was tested positive on 12 June in a random sample trial. Subsequently, all 171 prisoners were tested in the last four days and 57 of them, aged 15, were found infected.
Prisoners between the ages of 10 and 18 live in the shelter home, and are placed on the directions of the District Child Welfare Committee (CWC). The remaining 114 girls and 37 employees have been kept in separate buildings.
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The Kanpur administration is trying to figure out how the virus got into the house. Authorities suspect that the Kovid-positive staff may be the source because he will visit the hospital with the inmates for his treatment. This month, six girls came to the shelter and one of them tested positive.
“All 57 girls and female employees of the girl’s home have been admitted to hospitals,” Shukla said.
The shelter home also has a women’s safety home in its premises. Shukla said that the samples of all the prisoners were negative.
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