Six girls were found missing from the Government Children’s Home in Kerala’s Kozhikode district last week. The girls, all aged below 17, were brought back to the facility at Vellimadukunnu from Bengaluru two days later. The girls told the police that they had escaped from the place as they were fed up of living under terrible conditions. They have now raised protests demanding that they be shifted to another place and told the child welfare committee (CWC) and other authorities that they had to face many harrowing experiences at the children's home and if they continue to stay there, it would jeopardize their future. One of the girls tried to commit suicide, causing minor injury. Two other girls have also sustained minor cuts on their hands after they smashed the window glass panes with bare hands.
Meanwhile, lack of adequate safety measures and facilities at the children's home, including absence of CCTVs on the premises and enough staff to take care of the inmates, has also come to the fore during the preliminary assessment conducted by the child rights commission and the security audit conducted by the police. The Kerala state commission for child rights, which has intervened in the matter, said that the issues raised by the girls will be looked into seriously. After the emergency meeting convened by the CWC, district CWC chairman P M Thomas said that the commission would submit a comprehensive report on steps to enhance the security of the shelter home and other institutions on the compound.
The CWC would examine the request of the girls to shift them to another facility and also the request raised by the mother of a girl to take her child back. Meanwhile, police have initiated a security audit of the children's home and a report will be submitted pointing out the shortcomings. There were complaints that the children's home didn't have enough security and CCTV cameras were also absent on the premises.