57 women and girls at Kanpur’s government-run shelter home have tested positive for coronavirus, reported India Today.
Out of this, 5 were found to be pregnant, 2 of whom were minors.
1 other girl is HIV positive.
57 inmates of a govt.girls home in Kanpur uttar Pradesh have been found corona positive and more shockingly 2 minor girls are pregnant with one of them HIV positive.
— KULDEEP TANWAR (@KULDEEPTANWAR4) June 21, 2020
Is govt listening.
It’s inhuman..
The chain started last week when one of the staff members from the shelter tested positive for coronavirus. Soon, more tests were conducted and the results are unfortunate.
All the women undergoing treatment at various hospitals across Kanpur right now.
What a shame for our system and institutions. We talk about the women improvement but news from Kanpur State shelter home has shown the reality that we all is well in news channels only not in reality.#Shame#SystemFailedUshttps://t.co/8HkEBvzlAk
— saurabh chaurasiya (@Sau4587) June 22, 2020
Speaking to India Today on the matter, Kanpur DM Brahmdev Tiwari said:
57 girls have tested positive for Covid-19, which includes five girls found to be pregnant. This includes two minors and one HIV positive patient. They were sent by the Child Welfare Committees from Agra, Etah, Kannauj, Firozabad, Kanpur and were pregnant before they came to the shelter home. These are the cases under the Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences [POCSO] Act. Two other girls who were tested negative are also pregnant. They were also sent by the CWC team of Kanpur.
Kanpur: 57 girls at a government shelter home found #COVID19 positive. BR Tiwari, District Magistrate says, “57 positive cases have been reported, all admitted to hospitals. 5 girls among them are pregnant, they were brought there under various POCSO cases from different #kanpur pic.twitter.com/Myc5zEZLlk
— Mohd Faisal (@Mohdfaisal__) June 21, 2020
2 other pregnant girls tested negative for the virus.
According to The Print, the UP Women’s Commission member Poonam Kapoor said that the infection might have spread after a staff member visited Kanpur’s Lala Lajpat Rai Hospital/GSVM Medical College.
In UP's Kanpur, 57 girls found COVID +ve in a govt shelter home, of which 5 are pregnant
— Shaheen Sayyed (@shaheensayyed_) June 21, 2020
No outrage?
@myogiadityanath @narendramodi @INCIndia @priyankagandhi pic.twitter.com/j67gsGZ1IA
There has also been some allegations against the shelter home regarding the pregnancies, but the authorities have confirmed that the girls were pregnant before they were brought there. In that regard, Poonam noted:
No males are allowed to enter the shelter. Such matters shouldn’t be twisted — the girls were already pregnant.