On Saturday, May 6, the Guwahati Police filed a charge sheet against Dr Walliul Islam and his wife, Dr Sangeeta Datta, for allegedly torturing their 3-year-old ‘adopted daughter’ for several months. The horrific incident came to light after noted child rights activist Miguel Das Queah who runs a NGO named UTSAH posted about it on his Facebook page, pleading for police assistance in rescuing the minor girl. The couple used to tie their ‘adopted daughter’ on the terrace in the scorching summer heat, the images of the same surfaced online. The girl has reportedly been retrieved by the police.
Several media reports have stated that Dr Waliul Islam and a caretaker named Lakshmi Nath have been arrested while Dr Sangeeta Datta is absconding. However, an India Today NE report stated that the couple has been detained. It was also reported that the accused Dr Sangeeta Datta had released a video statement wherein she alleged that she and her husband have been a target of a conspiracy to finish their careers. She also refuted all the allegations against her and her husband.
Reacting to this, child rights activist Miguel Das Queah said that the minor has sustained injuries due to the torture inflicted by the couple. In a Facebook post shared hours ago, Queah wrote, “The little girl child has big burn injury marks on her buttocks. And Dr Sangeeta Datta has the guts to release dramatic video statements on social media. You deserve jail time. And both of you were very much in town on the 11th of March 2023, when the child was first time spotted on the terrace, tied up, almost in a state of dehydration. She could’ve died, you morons.”
In another Facebook post, the activist said that the Guwahati Police has taken cognizance of the matter adding that he received regular complaints about the cruelties inflicted by the couple on their daughter. Queah also urged the police to rescue the minor girl from the abusive environment. The child rights activist also claimed that the accused Dr Waliul Islam has another adopted daughter from a previous marriage, whom he had abandoned.
“Finally the dangerous doctor couple Dr. Waliul Islam and Dr. Sangeeta Dutta’s cruelty has been taken notice of by Guwahati Police. For a long time, I had received complaints about this horrid doctor couple who regularly tied their little daughter (who was supposedly adopted) on their terrace in the blaring summer heat. This little 5-year-old girl child also has bruise marks all over their body. I had requested the witnesses to file a complaint but no one was willing, till finally today someone had the courage. (Kudos to the person who called the Police) I had in the meantime updated the Child Welfare Committee on the matter,” a Facebook post by Queah reads.
“This doctor couple Dr. Waliul Islam and Dr. Sangeeta Dutta hobnob with the rich and the powerful and therefore they thought that they are beyond the purview of the law. I request the Assam Police to check the bruises, talk with the teachers, talk with the neighbours, and most importantly check the adoption documents. The child should immediately be pulled out of that abusive environment,” the post further said.
According to a Sentinel Assam report, the couple initially claimed that the minor girl is their adopted daughter, however, they later claimed that the girl child is theirs and that they underwent an IVF procedure.
The report also stated that Dr Waliul Islam has earlier been charged with a similar offence. “In 2017, he was accused of child abuse and had to appear before the Child Protection Commission, where a court decided against him,” the report stated.
