Somanath lost his father at the age of 3 years. Along with two sisters Devaki and Tulubala, Somanath was staying with his parental uncle in Parkanmala village of Khairiput block, Malakngiri district following the remarriage of his mother. Tulubala got married in that village after two years and Devaki was adopted by a villager as his daughter. Innocent Somanath became alone when he was 6 years old.

Somanath’s uncle being a drunkard, many a times tortured him and forced him to earn instead of going to school. The life of six years old boy was overwhelming due to loneliness and unsecured condition. Since Khairput block comes under CYSD’s Integrated Child Development Programme operational area, its Child Protection Coordinator got to know the incident and started investigation on the issue.

The programme team often visited to Somanath’s home, provided counselling and convinced him to join the village child club. Gradually, Somanath came to know about the child rights and child protection mechanism and agreed to confront the situation. Village Water and Sanitation Committee (VWSC) informed the District ChildLine and rescued Somanath. He was produced before the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) and sent to Sishu Griha, a government recognised orphanage, run by a district based NGO. His case was linked to Adoption Policy as per the child protection guideline.

“Somanath has turned 8 now, going to school and studying in Std. III.  He will get an assistance of rupees 50,000 and support for construction of a house under the rural housing scheme at the age of 21 as per the government rule”, assured one of the CWC members.

When Somanath was asked about his feelings, his eyes filled with tear and said, “I am feeling very happy being in ‘Sishu Griha’. I am not alone any more, I have so many friends here”.