The Missionaries of Charity, founded by Teresa, is in the news over the shocking accusation of running a child trade racket in Jharkhand. Teresa-founded charity employee has been arrested for child trafficking. The Missionaries of Charity is a Roman Catholic religious congregation established in 1950 by Teresa, now known in the Catholic Church as Saint Teresa of Calcutta. In 2012 it consisted of over 4,500 religious sisters. These missionaries are held in high esteem by the civil societies of India. The initial complaint came from the couple Saurabh Kumar Agrawal and his wife Preeti Agrawal from Sonbhadra in Uttar Pradesh. They reportedly came into contact of Anima through a local relative living in Ranchi, where she had been working and the deal was finalized. The child was born on May 1 and it was sold out to the couple on May 14.
The Members of these missionaries designate their affiliation using the order’s initials, “M.C.” A member of the congregation must adhere to vows and give “wholehearted free service to the poorest of the poor.” The order as of today consists of both contemplative and active branches in several countries.
A woman staffer has been arrested and two others, including a sister-in-charge, has been detained for allegedly selling a child born to an inmate of a shelter home, run by Teresa-founded Missionaries of Charity, at jail road in Ranchi, Jharkhand. The case came into limelight when the aforementioned couple approached the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) after Nirmal Hriday allegedly took away the child it had earlier given to them on May 14. The couple apparently told CWC chief that they paid Rs 1.2 lakh on May 1 to get the boy’s custody. The complaint was thereon forwarded to CWC Ranchi. The CWC works towards the welfare of children across the country. The CWC quoted that UP-based family claimed that Anima Indwar, who handed over the child to them on May 14, had called them up on July 1 and asked them to visit the shelter home for completing certain formalities. When the child was brought to the home, Indwar took the boy away. The CWC also clarified that Indwar had called up the couple a day after the CWC carried out a surprise check at Nirmal Hriday, which provides shelter to unwed mothers, and seized important documents. “The couple, with no help in sight, knocked our doors for help. The boy is in custody of CWC at present,” she said, claiming that a baby-selling racket has been operating from the shelter home for some time.
The law enforcement authorities said that Rs 65000 have been recovered from Anima. Also, it was found during the course of investigation that they were selling infants of unwed mothers at Rs 50,000 to 1.5 lakh. At least four children have been illegally sold by them. These missionaries have been infamous for long to do illegal activities in the garb of religious charity. Upon further investigation by the law enforcement authorities it was revealed that the children of Jhunnu Kumari, Hemlata Murmu and Shabnam were also sold out after taking a huge amount of money from different couples. There are two centres of Missionaries of Charity in Ranchi where troubled girls and unwed mothers are given shelter and rehabilitated. Meanwhile, a raid was conducted at Jail Road centre of ‘Missionaries of Charity’ by the Child Welfare Committee and 13 pregnant women were shifted to a shelter home.
It’s high time that the central government should not only focus on scrutinising the funding of such missionaries who are so blatantly involved in foul play but steps should also be taken by the authorities and other social groups to raise awareness about these shady organisations.