NCPCR Chief Booked For 'Trespassing' Into Bengaluru Orphanage, Comparing Children's Lives To 'Medieval Taliban'

The orphanage alleged that NCPCR chief Priyank Kanoongo visited without prior permission and also compared the living condition there with life under the Taliban rule.

NCPCR chief Priyank Kanoongo

Source : X@KanoongoPriyank

New Delhi: Karnataka Police booked National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) chief Priyank Kanoongo after he allegedly trespassed into an orphanage in Bengaluru and compared the living condition of the children with "medieval Taliban life", news agency PTI reported. An NCPCR team headed by Kanoongo conducted a surprise inspection at Darul Uloom Sayideeya Yateemkhana on November 19.  

After his visit, the orphanage’s secretary, Ashraf Khan, filed a complaint with DJ Halli police. In the complaint, he alleged that Kanoongo visited the orphanage without prior permission and also compared the living condition there with life under the Taliban rule.

"Based on the complaint received, an FIR was registered against the NCPCR chairman on November 21 under sections 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention), 447 (criminal trespass), 448 (house trespass), and 295A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) of the Indian Penal Code,” PTI quoted a police officer as saying.

Reacting to the FIR, Kanoongo told the news agency that a “false case” has been registered against him and that he had visited the orphanage as part of his duty.

“It has come to my notice that the Karnataka government has lodged a fake case against me. As part of my duty as NCPCR chairman, I went to the orphanage to visit. I was also accompanied by other state government officials of Karnataka. Despite that, they have registered a case of criminal trespass… If you keep children illegally in your house and do not follow the rules of the government, we will keep going again,” Kanoongo told PTI.

VIDEO | "It has come to my cognisance that the Karnataka government has lodged a fake case against me. I had visited (a Muslim orphanage) accompanied by other state government officials, despite that they have registered a case of criminal trespass," says National Commission for… pic.twitter.com/tuBBhUCMg8

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) November 23, 2023

He also urged the chief secretary of the Karnataka government to register an FIR against the orphanage for alleged non-compliance with the Juvenile Justice Act, PTI reported.

"None of these children are sent to school, violating their fundamental right to education. No recreational facility such as play material or TV is available in the orphanage. The condition in which children are kept in the orphanage amounts to violation of Section 75 of the JJ Act, 2015," the NCPCR wrote in its letter to the chief secretary.