KOZHIKODE: The six girls who escaped from Children’s Home for Girls at Vellimadukunnu were produced in Kozhikode Judicial First Class Magistrate Court on Saturday and the magistrate recorded their statements. The girls went missing on Wednesday. One girl was found in Bengaluru, one in Mandya and four in Edakkara in Malappuram.
A case has been registered against the two youths — Febin Rafi, 26, a native of Thrissur, and Tom Thomas, 26, from Kollam — who were nabbed along with the girls from Bengaluru, based on the statement given by the girls. The police recorded the arrest of Febin and Tom on Saturday.
The girls met the two youths at Whitefield railway station near Bengaluru. It is reported that the youths tried to sexually abuse girls after giving them alcohol. Sections of the Juvenile Justice Act and Pocso Act were slapped on the accused. One of the youths, Febin, tried to escape from the Chevayur police station on Saturday evening when the police took them outside the station to go to court. He was later apprehended near Government Law College.
Meanwhile, the police are yet to get clarity on how the girls got financial help for their journey. Earlier there were indications that the Goa-based boyfriend of one of the girls gave the money. The new revelation is that an Edakara native man also gave them money to buy bus tickets. Apart from these, the girls also testified that they had borrowed money from two West Bengal labourers at the Kozhikode KSRTC bus stand. The girls bought a phone on the way from Kozhikode to Bengaluru.
“Police are probing the whereabouts of those who provided financial assistance to the girls and the children’s relationship with them,” said P Chandramohan, SHO, Chevayur police station. The girls were produced in court after medical examination. One of the girls has tested Covid positive.