Balasore, May 27: The district administration today disengaged two officers for their inaction on allegations of sexual abuse of a minor girl at two childcare centres.
It has also issued orders to shut down the two shelters.
District collector Sanatan Mallick said: "Two officials - district child protection officer Itishree Mohapatra and programme officer Smitanjali Behera - have been disengaged with immediate effect. Further, both the distress homes are being closed. Their registration will be cancelled and all grant-in-aids stopped."
The women and child welfare department has taken a serious view after inquiry into the alleged sexual abuse. It also directed the district administration to rehabilitate the girl and bear her education's expenditure, apart from recommending compensation and counselling for her.
Four years ago, child welfare committee members had rescued the girl from the New Jalpaiguri railway station in Bengal, along with her younger brother, and handed them over to their Balasore counterparts. She was allegedly subjected to sexual assault atBapuji Seva Sadan in Chandipur and Santana Sudhar Gruha in Balasore.
Rourkela arrest
Rourkela police today nabbed a man for allegedly killing his wife following an altercation.
This morning, the police arrested Sudam Singh, 50, from near the Durgapur Hill Range where he was hiding after committing the crime.
Sudam and his wife Phuluri used to stay at Sardar Basti near Rourkela railway station. Their neighbours said they regularly fought over trivial issues. Yesterday afternoon, too, they had a fight. Complete silence for a long time, made the neighbours barge into the house. They found the woman lying in a pool of blood, while Sudam was missing.
Inspector of Uditnagar police station Subhanarayan Muduli said: "Preliminary probe has revealed that the husband hit the wife with a stick on her head causing her death."