13 inmates of Meherbaan Orphanage made to undergo operation
SHILLONG: The East Khasi Hills District Administration had ordered a magisterial probe headed by ADM DM Wahlang to go into the details of a reported incident where several minor boys who are inmates of the Meherbaan Orphanage in Laban area of the city were taken to NEIGRIHMS for circumcision, a customary practice under the Islamic laws.
According to Wahlang, the nature and details of the case is yet to be ascertained as the parents of some of the children, hailing from Ri Bhoi district, are yet to reach the city.
“The parents will arrive in the city on Wednesday and based on their statements, we would be able to ascertain whether it was a case of forced circumcision or not,” he added.
There are reports that the names of the children were not registered at NEIGRIHMS prior to the circumcision. As many as 13 boys, between the age of 9 and 15 years, allegedly underwent the procedure.
Wahlang, however, brushed aside the allegation, stating that the names of all the children were registered at the Hospital.
Meanwhile, the Civil Society Women’s Organisation (CSWO) has decided to send a report to the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) about an incident.
CSWO president Agnes Kharshiing alleged that the children were brought to the Casualty Ward of the Hospital and when the nurses attending to the Casualty Ward sought for registration of their names, the doctor in charge of the Casualty Ward, Dr. Mohd. Yunus, intervened, saying that the children were ‘his patients’.
It may be mentioned that Dr. Yunus is the Anaesthetist at NEIGRIHMS, along with Dr. Habib Md. Reazaul Karim.
Kharshiing, further, alleged that no entry was made in the register and soon after, Dr. Syed Wasim Hasan, a Urologist, asked for his OT gown and performed the surgery, which under normal circumstances, should have been performed by a general surgeon.
Meanwhile, no clear picture has emerged on who authorised the circumcision. The children all hail from remote villages, as was evident from the fact that one of the boys, who underwent the circumcision, told a nurse that he hailed from Jirang in Ri Bhoi District.
“These doctors have flaunted the rules and regulations and performed surgery on these minor children without the consent of their parents and without recording the
children’s names,” Kharshiing alleged.
She accused the doctors of illegally performing such operations on minor children who did not know what was happening, and added that the doctors have taken advantage of these children and their poor backgrounds in the name of the Orphanage.
The CSWO has asked the administration to book these doctors for gross negligence and for exploiting the vulnerability of the children. Kharshiing also demanded that the children should be immediately removed from the Orphanage, so that the investigation does not suffer from any ‘influence’.
Meanwhile, Medical Superintendent of NEIGRIHMS, Dr. AC Phukan, admitted to The Shillong Times that the operation on the boys was conducted on three days from Friday last week.
“I have sent a report to the Superintendent of Police and the office of the Deputy Commissioner, East Khasi Hills, in this regard,” Dr. Phukan informed.