Ropar rehab inmates narrate horror tales; sodomised, brutalised

Jupinderjit Singh
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, October 17

Several inmates of an unregistered drug de-addiction centre near Chamkaur Sahib in Ropar, who were rescued by the police on Tuesday night, were allegedly sodomised by the staff, besides being beaten up and denied food. 

Eighty of the 200 rescued boys, all aged between 12 and 30 years, had festering wounds, broken limbs and skin infection. As many as 150 inmates, some of them with injuries, were shifted to other centres or handed over to their parents. Some reportedly refused to return home.

Edit: Rehab or torture centres

Ropar SSP Swapan Sharma said eight inmates had told the police they were sodomised by centre manager-cum-owner Khushwinder Singh and other members of the staff. At times, they were “lined up, stripped and ridiculed”. Khushwinder Singh and his aides have been booked for sodomy and cruelty as well as under various Sections of the Wildlife (Protection) Act as animals, including monkeys, were found caged at the centre. 

The Punjab Health Department too has begun proceedings against the unlicensed centre.

“The inmates were administered Tramadol and other painkillers. They were not given any medicine to help them fight the craving for drugs and were beaten up when they could not handle the craving,” the SSP told The Tribune. The boys alleged they were summoned by the owner to his apartment and subjected to sodomy as “punishment for demanding drugs”.

Already facing stigma, many boys were found to be suffering from depression and other mental disorders. “My son is a wreck. He refuses to accompany us home, asking us why we had sent him to hell,” said a distressed mother. She said the family had no idea the inmates were being ill-treated. 

The police said Kushwinder Singh earned about Rs 40 lakh per month as fee and more from selling hundreds of litres of milk every day as he ran a dairy comprising 100 head of cattle, which were tended to by the inmates. He owned three SUVs and three other high-end bikes.  “The accused has 14 FIRs against him for various offences, including murder and extortion. He claims he has been acquitted in eight cases. We are looking into the relevant documents to ascertain that,” the SSP said.