Latur, Maharashtra:
It's been more than 48 hours since a mango orchard, owned by an NGO working for HIV positive children, was burnt down in Maharashtra but the police is yet to make any arrest. The orchard in Hasegaon village in Latur district was allegedly burnt down on Tuesday night by locals who, the NGO says, had opposed the project thinking that the disease would spread to other children in the area.
The proceeds from the sale of fruits of the 250-odd trees in the orchard were used for running the NGO, Sevalaya, which housed 32 HIV positive children aged between six and 17 years.
"We have been running a centre here for HIV positive children since 2007. In the last few years some locals opposed the project. In 2008, some property was damaged. And a few years later now they have done this, which is shameful. This has caused a lot of losses. We run this centre without any kind of government help. I have managed to keep the children safe so far but I am worried," said Mr Ravi Bapatle, Founder of the Sevalaya project told NDTV.
A resilient Bapatle says he will continue the NGO as the future of 32 children is at stake. "The police are investigating the case and only once that is complete will we get to know who is behind this. My job is to protect these children and their future and I will continue to do that."
A case was registered at the Ausa police station in the district yesterday. "We have received a complaint and we are looking into the case," Latur Superintendent of Police BG Gaikar told NDTV.
Latur's District Magistrate Vipin Sharma told NDTV, "Whoever the culprit is, he will be caught. We want to assure everybody that Latur district administration will take care of all HIV affected children in the district."