More than 90 orphan and destitute children from a private home in Naduverapattu in Kanchipuram were rescued by the Chengelpet child welfare committee on Saturday.
The officials said that a woman and her two daughters who were running the Comforter-Muthukal Children Home often hit the children.
The registered home was closed down temporarily as children aged 5 to 17 years were housed here without adequate infrastructure.
Kanchipuram district social welfare officer G. Sarguna said that action was taken based on the direction from the social welfare directorate and the collectorate.
“We have now shifted the children to a safer place in Chrompet. We have filed complaints with the police against home managers Jothi Alexander, Gracy and Rachel immediately after the home visit. The majority of the children in the home were from north Chennai,” she said.
“All the children looked famished. These children were not even given a spare dress The living and sanitary conditions are poor in the home. Only the living room of the home managers looked clean,” child welfare officer Zhahurdhin said.
“Girls and boys were not given separate rooms. All of them were dumped in a dormitory,” said the official. The home has been functioning for the last 15 years. “Recently a 12-year-old boy ran away from the home. When we interacted with the children, we learnt that they were given religious sermons and not sent to school,” he said, adding that “some of them have parents who could not afford to take care of them”.