Days after a web of grisly crimes, including rape and torture, against inmates of a Tamil Nadu shelter home shocked the state, police on Thursday said that another home run by the same owners is now under the scanner.
A total of six people, including the two owners of the unlicensed Anbu Jothi Ashram in Villupuram’s Kedar village, B Jubin Baby and his wife C Mariya, have been apprehended so far. Jubin was arrested in the early hours of Thursday.
Villupuram superintendent of police (SP) N Shreenatha said a second unit of the ashram was found near Puducherry, more than 40km away.
The branch was operating as a mental health institute without a license for 17 years, Shreenatha said.
The ashram appears to have links with other shelter homes, the SP said. “The ashram had sent 52 inmates to another institute in Bengaluru called Home of Hope,” she said.
“Our officials went there and found 15 of them missing. We are now coordinating with Bengaluru Police on the case,” she added.
The SP also said that 25 people were rescued after a police team visited the spot on Wednesday night. The inmates of this branch have also complained of rape and torture against those running the place, she said.
All 142 inmates of the shelter home in Villupuram were rescued earlier this week. The inmates – mostly from Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Odisha, and West Bengal – told police that they were raped and beaten, and that the owners of the home had monkeys which were used to hurt them.
The alleged crime at the shelter home came to light in August last year after US resident Salim Khan came to visit his father-in-law in Villupuram, but the ashram told him that he had been shifted to another institute in Bengaluru. After Khan did not find his father-in-law in Bengaluru, he filed a missing persons complaint with the local police in Kedar village in December.
On February 10, a police team from Villupuram inspected the ashram in Bengaluru and found 15 people missing from the premises.
Two monkeys roaming on the campus bit 10 people, according to Villupuram deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Priyadarshini.
The forest department later took away the monkeys and the home was sealed on the orders of Villupuram collector C Palani on Tuesday.
Police registered two first information reports (FIR) against the owners who appeared to have targeted poor and homeless people.
Mariya and four staff members – warden Muthumaari, computer operator Gopinath, staff Ayyapan, and driver Biju – were arrested on Tuesday. Jubin was hospitalised after the monkeys bit him on February 10, and was arrested on Thursday.
The owners and staff members, some of whom are from Kerala, have been arrested on several charges, including rape, human trafficking, wrongful confinement, and assault.
The accused have been booked under the Indian Penal Code and the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Harassment of Women Act, 1998.
According to a senior government official, not all the people who were rescued arrived voluntarily at the shelter homes.
“Some were picked up from the streets by the home’s staff and some were trafficked,” the government official said, seeking anonymity.
In a statement on February 13, the Tamil Nadu State Mental Health Authority said its review board inspected the ashram on December 12, and learnt that it was being run without any registration.
For violating section 65 of the Mental Health Care Act, 2017, a fine of ₹5,000 was imposed. “The Anbu Jothi Ashram is directed not to admit any mentally-ill person without registration of the establishment,” the statement added.
The case has prompted officials to monitor other such institutions.
“Our officials have started monitoring all institutes to ensure another incident like the Anbu Jothi Ashram one is not repeated,” Palani said.
“We have instructed the team to conduct monthly inspections. We are reporting our findings so far to the state mental health department.”