<p>Bhopal: A Catholic priest has been arrested for allegedly running a children's home unlawfully and engaging in conversion attempts at the facility in Bhopal district, a police official said on Monday.</p>.<p>Father Anil Mathew of the Congregation of Carmelites of Mary Immaculate was on January 4 charged with running the children's home unlawfully under Parwalia police station limits. He was later also booked under the Madhya Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act, 2021, an anti-conversion law, the official said.</p>.<p>The police on Sunday arrested Father Mathew and produced him in a local court, which remanded him in 14-day judicial custody, he said.</p>.<p>The chairperson of the National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) and a team of the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (SCPCR) raided the children's home at Tara Savania village, about 20 km from the district headquarters.</p>.<p>It found that 26 girls out of the total 68 inmates were missing after going through the register of the facility. Subsequently, a first information report (FIR) was registered with the police by district programme officer Ramgopal Yadav against Father Mathew for allegedly running the facility illegally.</p>.<p>He was initially charged under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, police said.</p>.<p>"We had complained on January 4 itself that there was a violation of the Madhya Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act, 2021 at the facility. But after a probe, the police registered a case under the Act against Mathew on Sunday," Nivedita Sharma, a member of the SCPCR, told <em>PTI</em>.</p>.<p>Meanwhile, refuting the allegations, Father Johnshibu Pallipatt, vicar provincial of the Congregation of Carmelites of Mary Immaculate, said the facility, called 'Aanchal', was not a children's home, but a hostel for girls.</p>.<p>The students at the facility were admitted with the written consent of their parents and family members, he said in a release.</p>.<p>As per directives of the state school education department, Aanchal has registered the girls' hostel online on the department's portal, the release stated.</p>.<p>Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav had on Saturday said 26 girls from a children's home who were alleged to have gone missing were safe and directed officials to take action against institutions operating illegally.</p>.<p>Yadav, in a post on X, wrote that the girls who went missing from the children's home were safe and had been identified.</p>
<p>Bhopal: A Catholic priest has been arrested for allegedly running a children's home unlawfully and engaging in conversion attempts at the facility in Bhopal district, a police official said on Monday.</p>.<p>Father Anil Mathew of the Congregation of Carmelites of Mary Immaculate was on January 4 charged with running the children's home unlawfully under Parwalia police station limits. He was later also booked under the Madhya Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act, 2021, an anti-conversion law, the official said.</p>.<p>The police on Sunday arrested Father Mathew and produced him in a local court, which remanded him in 14-day judicial custody, he said.</p>.<p>The chairperson of the National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) and a team of the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (SCPCR) raided the children's home at Tara Savania village, about 20 km from the district headquarters.</p>.<p>It found that 26 girls out of the total 68 inmates were missing after going through the register of the facility. Subsequently, a first information report (FIR) was registered with the police by district programme officer Ramgopal Yadav against Father Mathew for allegedly running the facility illegally.</p>.<p>He was initially charged under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, police said.</p>.<p>"We had complained on January 4 itself that there was a violation of the Madhya Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act, 2021 at the facility. But after a probe, the police registered a case under the Act against Mathew on Sunday," Nivedita Sharma, a member of the SCPCR, told <em>PTI</em>.</p>.<p>Meanwhile, refuting the allegations, Father Johnshibu Pallipatt, vicar provincial of the Congregation of Carmelites of Mary Immaculate, said the facility, called 'Aanchal', was not a children's home, but a hostel for girls.</p>.<p>The students at the facility were admitted with the written consent of their parents and family members, he said in a release.</p>.<p>As per directives of the state school education department, Aanchal has registered the girls' hostel online on the department's portal, the release stated.</p>.<p>Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav had on Saturday said 26 girls from a children's home who were alleged to have gone missing were safe and directed officials to take action against institutions operating illegally.</p>.<p>Yadav, in a post on X, wrote that the girls who went missing from the children's home were safe and had been identified.</p>