The chairperson and a member of Ranchi Child Welfare Committee (CWC) were suspended after a tribal child activist accused them of harassment, leaving the quasi-judicial body headless in the Jharkhand capital, officials said on Sunday.

According to police, Ranchi CWC chairperson Rupa Kumari Verma and member Tanushree Sarkar were suspended by the State Women and Child Welfare department after Sita Diya lodged an FIR with the ST/SC police station in the capital, accusing the duo of harassment and use of “derogatory words” against her ethnicity.

“The complainant, who also happens to be a child rights activist, has accused the two CWC members of harassment and use of derogatory words against her. We have lodged a case under relevant sections of the law,” said the officer in-charge of ST/SC police station, RR Minz.

According to the complaint, the two CWC members had allegedly stopped payment of funds to Diya Seva Sansthan, an NGO run by Sita Divya for protection and rehabilitation of children who fall victim to human trafficking. Diya, in her complaint, has also accused the duo of causing mental stress to her by stopping the payment of funds – about Rs 30 lakh – received for running her NGO.

While none of the two CWC members accused in the matter responded to calls from this correspondent on Sunday, a former CWC member requesting anonymity said that the suspension of the two members would hamper the process of addressing issues related to child rights violations in the district.

Three of the five CWC members in Ranchi have completed their tenure with the quasi-judicial body. The tenures of the remaining two, who have now been suspended, would end in three months, sources said. Hence, there is no functioning member left in Ranchi CWC to hear issues related to child rights.

The CWC was also actively involved in identifying children who have been orphaned during the pandemic and extending support to them. This process too may get affected in the absence of members, sources said.

Children rescued from bonded labour and trafficking networks are produced before the CWC. They also undergo counselling and medical tests under the supervision of this body before being sent to schools or rehabilitation centres.