Taking up a case where two HIV positive girls in an orphanage were made to clean a manhole, the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) called an emergency sitting on Thursday.
The New Indian Express reported that the meeting came after a report submitted by the District Child Protection Officer to the CWC.
Two people from the AGAPE orphanage home in Uppal were arrested by the police last week, after the incident surfaced, and a video went viral on social media.
“We received the report from DCPU on Wednesday and based on that we have summoned all the members including owners and caretakers of the orphanage. We will also be visiting the orphanage on Thursday and meeting the children to get a first hand understanding of the situation,” V Padmavathi, CWC member, Rangareddy district told TNIE.
A video that emerged last week, showed a girl wearing a red dress, with her face covered with a grey scarf, immersed in a manhole.
The girl can be seen taking out muck in a mug and pouring it out. She does this while an adult can be heard in the background issuing instructions to 'remove it quickly'.
According to the orphanage's website, it was established by Lynne Guhman-Voggu, who moved to India in 2000 from Massachusetts and married an Indian physician named Dr Ratnam Voggu.
The website also adds that AGAPE started its first children's home exclusively for AIDS affected/infected orphans in June 2004. Presently there are six children's homes -- four for HIV affected children (children whose parents or family members have/had AIDS), and two for HIV infected children in Uppal.
The organisation also works at an international level. There is also a school owned by the organisation, where the children get their education.
Even after the incident, some authorities at the orphanage have remained brazenly defiant, calling it a 'small' mistake.
All officials from the organisation have laid the blame largely on the warden, Prajawathi, who, they say, joined them just over two weeks back.