NHRC issues notice on Tamil Nadu govt over escpae of 33 juveniles

Speed Post News Network

(NHRC) New Delhi: The National Human Rights Commission has taken suo motu cognizance of a media report about the escape of 33 boys, who fled the government run Observation Home for Boys and Girls at Kellys near Purasawalkam area in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, on July 11, 2016.  The police have managed to find and bring back 26 of them while seven are yet to be traced. Reportedly, the Home maintained and guarded by the Social Defence Department of the sState is overcrowded and lacking in the basic facilities.  The inmate children are handled badly and they remain depressed.

The NHRC has observed that the contents of the media report, if true, raise serious issue of violation of human right to life and dignity of the juveniles and negligence by the Social Welfare Department of the state and has issued a notice to the Secretary, Department of Social Welfare and Nutritious Meal Programme, Government of Tamil Nadu, calling for a report in the matter within four weeks. It has also observed that the children, who are in the custody of the state, are required to be handled sensibly so that they do not become criminals in future.  The state is duty bound to ensure proper facilities in the government run Homes and safety of the inmates, it said.

According to the media report, carried on July 12,  2016, two groups of the inmates lodged in the Home clashed with each other and pelted stones in which many of them suffered injuries.  By the time, the police reached the spot, many of the boys were successful in fleeing the Home. The unrest began a day before the incident when the children carried out a protest on the terrace of the building demanding good facilities and better accommodations.  The protesting inmates were pacified but the next day again, the clashes started and during the melee, many of them scaled the wall and escaped.