CHENNAI: Twelve juveniles escaped from a Government Place of Safety in Athur, near Chengalpattu, on Sunday evening at a time when only three staff members, all of them contract employees, were on duty.
One of the escapees has been secured. Official sources said following the incident, the department deployed 22 women staff at the facility on Monday.
“In order to maintain the facility and its security effectively, 30 staff are needed. It only had three at the time,” an official source who inspected the facility told TNIE.
The juvenile home, run by the Social Welfare Department, has three dormitory-style blocks, including separate accommodation for juveniles whose cases are under inquiry and those found to have committed offences under the Juvenile Justice Act. It currently has 61 juveniles, of whom 36 are under inquiry and 25 have been found to have committed offences.
Sources said no security personnel was guarding the main gate when the incident occurred, and alleged the juveniles had been planning the escape for nearly a week.
CCTV cameras at the facility, they said, have been non-functional for close to two months after the juveniles allegedly damaged them.
Television sets in two of the three blocks had also been damaged earlier, sources said, which forced juveniles from all three blocks to be brought together in a common hall for a movie screening on Sunday evening. The twelve allegedly slipped out of the hall, opened the main gate and escaped at the time.
After fleeing, they allegedly stole three motorcycles parked on the Chengalpattu-Orakkattupettai Road. The police are also verifying allegations that some of them robbed passers-by of cash and mobile phones while escaping. The Chengalpattu Taluk police have registered a case under three sections of the BNS, and are separately probing the security lapses.
Responding to the incident, Director of Children Welfare and Special Services Shilpa Prabhakar Satish told TNIE, “I don’t think staff strength is the major concern. However, we are taking steps to tighten security in the coming days. Based on the recommendations of the Justice Chandru Commission, we have requested for deploying armed personnel in the perimeter area,” she said.
Child rights activist A Devaneyan, founder of Thozhamai Trust, said improving rehabilitation is as important as strengthening security. “Juveniles have limited recreational and skill development opportunities in government juvenile homes. Particularly in the Government Place of Safety, there are limited sports activities. Rehabilitation programmes should be strengthened and properly monitored,” he said.
The incident comes days after five juveniles escaped from the Government Special Home in Chengalpattu, of whom two have since been secured. It also follows a clash at the facility on July 5, after which cases were registered against 19 juveniles for rioting and damaging government property.