The Metropolitan Police Range Kathmandu has rescued 21 people from a rehab home in Kathmandu.
They were rescued from the reform home run by Transformation Nepal at Sukedhara, Kathmandu Metropolitan City-4. A team of the Range arrested the reform home proprietor Santosh Ghimire and Samit Malla, an employee there on the charge of inflicting gross torture on the people sheltered there. The police has also initiated investigation in this connection.
Chief of the Range Basanta Lama said in a news conference it organized Friday that the reform home’s proprietor has been arrested and the people sheltered at the home rescued after it was found that rather than rehabilitate the drug addicts and alcohol abusers kept there they were tortured.
“Thirteen out of the 34 people kept at the reform home ran away from there and came to the police to report the problems they had to endure there. Their families also submitted application to the police urging for taking action against the proprietor and rescuing their relatives at the reform home. So based on this, we rescued the remaining 21 people on Thursday,” he said.
The rescued people have been handed over to their families, police said.
Lama said preliminary investigation by police showed that the proprietor collected money from the parents of the people sheltered at the Home on lump sum basis for the whole year at the rate of Rs 35,0000 per person per month.
The inmates were subjected to various kinds of physical and mental torture and were not allowed to meet with their parents. “This kind of incident took place as the parents were not serious,” he added.
The reform home which was in operation at Kapan five years back is currently run from Sukedhara. Police said action would be taken against the arrested in accordance with the Clause 168 of the Criminal Code.
