11 juveniles escape from Delhi correctional home

Eleven juveniles escaped from a correctional home in Central Delhi after allegedly injuring its security in-charge and three police personnel, amid the ongoing COVID-19-induced lockdown. The Delhi government has formed a committee and asked it for a report on the incident. All of them are in the age group of 16 to 18 years and they escaped from the correctional home near Delhi Gate on Wednesday evening, police said.

The juvenile home is run by an non-governmental organisation (NGO) called Prayas and its founder Amod Kant said though the facility houses only under trials aged below 16 years, it had recently received some inmates of other homes, most of whom were “convicted”. “We had flagged the issue when they were brought here to be quarantined,” Kant said. While escaping, they attacked its security in-charge and in an ensuing fight, the three police personnel were injured, a senior police officer said on Thursday.

They broke the lock of the main gate and escaped, he said, adding that police were informed about the incident around 7.15 pm on Wednesday. The injured were taken to a nearby hospital and discharged after treatment, the officer said. Women and Child Development Minister Rajendra Pal Gautam inspected the facility on Thursday and formed a committee, headed by a special director, to look into the matter and examine whether there were any lapses. He said the report will come within 72 hours. According to a government official, it is suspected that there were some lapses on the part of the juvenile home but the report will clear the matter. Kant said, "The juveniles were brought to the home at Ferozeshah Kotla from correctional homes at Majnu Ka Tila and Kingsway Camp." "Our facility houses juveniles who are under trial and aged below 16 years, while the juveniles brought from those homes are mostly convicted. We had flagged the issue when they were brought here to be quarantined,” he said.

The juveniles were looking for an opportunity to escape and on Wednesday, they attacked policemen and even staffers of the juvenile home, Kant claimed. They were well-built and they broke open the bars of the window of the room where they were quarantined, Kant claimed He said the juvenile home has been running for over 15 years and there have never been any incidents reported earlier. The inmates of the juvenile home did not even interact with the juveniles who were brought here on April 18, Kant said. According to police, the parents of the absconding juveniles were contacted immediately after the incident.

One of the juveniles, a resident of Kailash Nagar, who fled to his home was brought back to the correctional home by police. Efforts are on to trace the other absconding juveniles, the police added..