HYDERABAD: Eleven inmates escaped from the women and child welfare department’s State Home at Yousufguda here Wednesday morning. Except two, G Rekha (21), mother of a two-month-old baby, and Akshitha Yadav (23), the rest are all minor girls.
They escaped through a window on the first floor of the building after removing its iron bars. Six of the girls had been lodged at the home following court intervention, mostly in child marriage cases. Home officials suspect Akshitha, who was admitted only five days ago, may have planned the escape and encouraged the others to follow.
By evening, one among them, a 15-year old, was found near the Monda market. She told the police the others too were somewhere in the vicinity. The Sanjeeva Reddy Nagar police have registered a case based on a complaint filed by the home officials. “They might have escaped either due to frustration at being confined or affection for their loved ones. We are investigating and three special teams are on the job,” said A Venkateswarulu, DCP, West Zone.
Girija, in-charge at the State Home, said the group escaped around 8.20 a.m. after having breakfast. According to her, they assembled in a room on the first floor and cut the iron bars of a window to escape. “They are all young and healthy. They jumped on to the sunshade a couple of ft below the window, tied a saree and slid down,” she explained. Some labourers spotted the girls walking by suspiciously. “The girls told them Rekha’s baby was unwell and that they were going to a doctor,” said a security guard at the main gate. The sprawling 18-acre campus houses a Shishu Vihar for about 220 children aged below 6. It also houses an old-age home sheltering 28 persons, a rescue home and a State Home with about 60 inmates.
Rajyalakshmi, regional deputy director of the women and child welfare department, who held an inquiry, told Express Akshitha was brought to the home after her father had lodged a police complaint alleging that his daughter was in a relationship with a 40-year-old. The home officials were supposed to counsel and send her back home.