Two minor girls flee Delhi correction home

Investigators found out that the girls climbed a tree close to the boundary wall and then used a cloth to scale the wall and go to the other side

Police were working on finding two minor girls who fled a north Delhi shelter home for girls after scaling its walls on Wednesday, officers said on Friday.

The shelter home currently inhabits over 80 girls who are “children in need of care and protection (CNCP)”. (HT Photo)

A senior police officer said that they were informed by the officials of the Kashmere Gate shelter home on Wednesday evening that the two girls, aged 14 and 16, had fled.

“The officials stated that the girls fled early morning when most of the shelter home residents were sleeping. Ideally, adequate female security personnel should be present inside and outside the shelter home. We are verifying how many were there at the time of the incident and where were they stationed,” the officer said.

Deputy commissioner of police (north) Manoj Kumar Meena said a case was registered under Section 363 (punishment for kidnapping) of the Indian Peal Code at Kashmere Gate and investigation was taken up.

Investigators found out that the girls climbed a tree close to the boundary wall and then used a cloth to scale the wall and go to the other side.

According to an investigator, the 14-year-old is a resident of Bihar and was brought to the shelter home on November 15, while the other is a native of Uttar Pradesh and was brought to the home on November 26. “Both of them were found wandering cluelessly at Old Delhi Railway Station by the Government Railway Police and they were further produced before the Child Welfare Committee who ordered them to be taken to this shelter home,” the officer said.

“Multiple teams are working to find the minors. We have obtained CCTV footage from near the shelter home and we have got leads which are working on,” the officer added.

The shelter home currently inhabits over 80 girls who are “children in need of care and protection (CNCP)”. According to the Juvenile Justice Act, CNCP is defined as a child who may be found without a home or means of subsistence, engaging in illegal labour, living on the streets or begging, residing with an abusive guardian, being at risk of drug abuse or trafficking, facing unconscionable exploitation, suffering from incurable diseases or disabilities, or being at risk of early marriage.

The last known case of minors fleeing from a shelter home was reported in 2017 from south Delhi’s Ambedkar Nagar wherein four minors had fled but they were all subsequently found within 24 hours.