New Delhi Feb 2 (PTI) Seventy-seven cases of child abuse have been recorded in childcare institutions, including shelter homes, in the last five years, the Ministry of Women and Child Development said on Friday.

The highest number of child abuse cases at child care institutions (CCIs) and shelter homes were recorded in 2018-19 at 26, followed by 21 such cases in 2021-22, according to the data given by Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani in a written response in the Lok Sabha.

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In 2020-21, 13 child abuse cases were recorded while in 2019-20, 12 such cases were recorded.

In 2022-23, there five cases of child abuse were reported.

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Among states and Union Territories, the highest number of such cases (12) have been reported from Uttar Pradesh.

Responding to another question, she said a total of 5,175 children have been registered on the Go Home and Re-Unite (GHAR) portal for repatriation.

The GHAR portal has been developed and launched by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights to digitally monitor and track the restoration and repatriation of children as per the protocols under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 and Rules.

In response to another question, she said the NCPCR has also developed an application MASI -- Monitoring App for Seamless Inspection -- for real-time monitoring of the CCIs and their inspection mechanism across the country.

A total of 5,347 inspections have been conducted of MASI app, she said in a written response.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)