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9 girls who went missing from shelter home in Kerala traced

According to the girls' statement, they reached Ernakulam by bus. They told the police that it was their decision to leave the shelter. Police are inquiring further into this incident

9 girls, including POCSO survivors, missing from shelter home
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First Published Nov 14, 2022, 10:53 AM IST

Nine girls, including the survivors of POSCO cases, went missing from a shelter home in Kerala's Kottayam district on Monday. Police tracked them later in the day at the house of a girl's relative in Ernakulam.

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According to the girls' statement, they reached Ernakulam by bus. They told the police that it was their decision to leave the shelter. Police are inquiring further into this incident.

After the formalities, the girls will be produced before the court. The authorities are yet to make a decision on whether these girls should be brought back to the shelter or taken to another centre.

It was on Monday morning that the girls were reported missing from the shelter home run by an NGO, Mahila Samakhya, in Manganam in Kottayam. The shelter home is a centre authorised by the district's child welfare committee. It houses juvenile victims of various cases, POSCO survivors, homeless children and those rescued from the streets.

According to reports, the girls have been protesting in the past few days, demanding their release from the shelter. A senior police officer said that the girls wanted to leave the shelter home and had been staging protests.

But they cannot be allowed to leave as it requires special permission from the CWC and the court, the police official said.

Currently, around 12 children are staying in the shelter home, which is authorised by the district’s child welfare committee (CWC). It houses juvenile victims of various cases, POSCO survivors, homeless children and those rescued from the streets. The nine girls who went absconding too were brought to the shelter home as directed by the CWC.

Last month, the Kerala High Court had initiated suo motu Public Interest Litigation taking note of the plight of children on the streets. Highlighting the fact that these children should be taken care of, sent to shelter homes or repatriated, the court directed the state government and agencies concerned to file an affidavit detailing the steps taken to provide adequate and suitable care and protection to the children in need.

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