BANGALORE: Emotions ran high at the Government Boys’ Home here on Tuesday when 24 children who had run away from their homes were reunited with their parents.
They were rescued by child protection organisations like Sathi and BOSCO from Yeshwantpur and Bangalore City railway stations.
“We rescue almost nine to 10 children and 18-20 children every day from Yeshwantpur and Bangalore City railway stations, respectively. These children are sent to our shelter homes and those who don’t provide a proper address are sent to the Government Boys’ Home,” said Mounish Koner, Management of Information System officer, Sathi.
The children who were reunited with their parents on Tuesday were from various districts like Tumkur, Bijapur and Hubli.
“My father refused to repair my bicycle, so I ran away from home. After that, I was too scared to go home,” said Mahesh, a 14-year-old boy from Tumkur.
Children who addicted to drugs are reluctant to go home. “To make them understand the value of family and education, we hold a month-long camp where we teach them about values, hygiene and the ill-effects of drugs,” said Koner.
The parents were asked to be compassionate towards their children.
“Parents shouldn’t beat their children. They should instead sit with them and talk to them about their problems,” said Shashikala Shetty, Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS) Project Director, Department of Women and Children.
The event was attended by Divya Narayanappa, District Child Protection Officer (DCPO), Bangalore Urban Distirct, Basavaraj Shali, Deputy Secretary, Sathi, and also Ashok G Nijagannavar, Member-secretary, Karnataka State Legal Services Authority.
‘We Don’t Get Good Food or Clothes’
The children present at the event complained about the lack of facilities at the Government Boys’ Home. “They don’t give us proper food. It never has salt and the quantity is also very less,” said Shiva, who was at the home for almost two months.
“They also give us torn clothes to wear and never give us any soap to wash ourselves,” he added.
Some children said the clothes were dirty and smelly too.
“They give us nice clothes at these events and only if some minister is visiting the home. Once they leave, they snatch the clothes from us and give us the old torn clothes to wear,”said Ranga.They also said that officials who ran the home were very rude.
“They abuse us for everything. They use bad words and call our mothers and sisters names. It makes us angry but we can’t do anything,” said Narasimha.
The children also alleged that the most common form of punishment was beatings. “They beat us up and if they ever catch us in a fight with the other boys they make us clean the gutters,” he added.
(All names have been changed)
24-year-old Commits Suicide Over Mother’s Death
Bangalore: Depressed after learning of his mother’s sudden death, a 24-year-old committed suicide in Banashankari, on Monday night.
According to the police around 8.30 pm, Sujatha (60), suffered a heart attack. Her husband rushed her to a nearby private hospital.
“Since Subhash was an epilepsy patient and a child with special needs, his father decided to leave him at home. He was not informed of Sujatha’s death and found out only at around 12.30 am, when her body was brought home,” said police officials.
His mother had taken care of him all these years. “Distraught over his mother’s death, Subhash immediately took a bottle that contained his epilepsy treatment pills and emptied it into his mouth. Although he was rushed to KIMS hospital, he died this morning around 6 am,” said police officials. A case of unnatural death has been registered by the Banashankari police.