Times of India: Nagpur: Thursday,
March 30, 2017.
A query
sought under the Right To Information (RTI) Act from the District Women and
Child Development department has exposed the alarming annual rate at which
inmates of the government observation home for boys are escaping from the premises
since the last five years.
From 2012 to
February 2017, 68 minors under the category of juveniles in conflict with law
or minor offenders have escaped from the home. Of these, 31 minor offenders including
one booked for murder have remained untraceable.
In the same
period, 74 minors under the category of 'child in need of care and protection'
have escaped. Out of these, RTI showed that 47 minors are still missing.
The
information furnished by the superintendent in-charge of the home also reveals
that two minors, named in a murder case, had escaped between December 2016 and
February 2017. While one returned, the authorities have no clue about the
other.
Four other
minor offenders, beside the one booked for murder, too have been untraceable
after they sneaked out of the home in the last one year. The four include one
booked for preparation to commit dacoity, theft, causing hurt by endangering
life and personal safety of others and assault.
In 2014-15,
three minors, booked for murder, had fled from the home after being sent there
by the juvenile justice board. However, much to the relief of the authority,
all the three had returned.
Four minors,
booked for attempt to murder, had fled the home in 2015-16 but three had
returned. In 2012-13, a minor booked for rape had escaped from the home and he
still remains untraceable till date. The RTI query showed that a maximum of 22
juvenile offenders had sneaked away from home in 2015-16 out of which 12 have
still not been traced.
Another 30
minors, under the child in need of care and protection category, had slipped
away between January 1, 2016 and February this year. Out of 30, the authority
is clueless about 12.
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