Bhubaneswar: A woman working with the district child protection unit in Angul landed in soup after Childline, Khurda rescued an eight-year-old girl, who was allegedly working as a domestic help at the house of the woman officer, from Bhubaneswar railway station on Sunday night.

The Child Welfare Committee, Khurda has written to the social welfare director to investigate the matter and initiate action against the concerned officer, identified as Anuradha Nayak.

The girl, a resident of a slum at Prasanti Vihar in Infocity police limits, had allegedly been engaged in the house of Nayak - who is the protection officer of the unit's institutional care - for the past two months in various household chores and babysitting."Childline with officials of the Government Railway Police rescued the girl while she was about to board a train along with the woman officer. The girl is being counselled at a shelter home in Bhubaneswar," said committee member Benudhar Senapati.The girl's father, a daily wage earner, said the father of the woman officer who stays in Bhubaneswar, had taken her daughter on the assurance of providing education. "As I was unable to take care of my six children because of financial constraint, I decided to let her go. They had also assured me of financial help. My daughter had come for Raja," he said.

Senapati also said the committee had also directed Childline to lodge a police complaint. "It is a rare case, in which an officer working for child protection is encouraging child labour. There should be strong action against the woman officer," said Seanapati. The woman officer, however, was unavailable for her comments. In March, the East Coast Railway had set up a women and child desk at Bhubaneswar railway station to prevent child trafficking from the city. The desk, which is functioning from platform No. 1, is being managed by Childline.

According to statistics of the Railway Protection Force, as many as 359 children had been rescued from the station in 2016, while the number came down to 198 in 2017.

Woman drowns

A 28-year-old woman identified as Sujata Jena drowned at Basantara village in Jagatsinghpur. She accidentally slipped into the village community pond.