Glaring staff lapses come to the fore

Haryana commission for protection of child rights highlights poor strength of guards, lack of counselling

ROHTAK: The Haryana state commission for protection of child rights (HSCPCR) chairperson Jyoti Bainda on Thursday pointed to glaring lapses on part of the staff and management of an observation home in Hisar from where 17 juveniles had escaped after injuring three security guards earlier this week.

“Six security guards were deployed for only 47 inmates but there were 97 inmates in the observation home at the time of the incident. Why was the strength of security guards not increased. It is a very serious matter since 61 out of 97 inmates were booked for heinous crimes and eight were facing serious offences. Still, the security was not tightened. As many as 15 inmates were booked for petty offences and it is surprising that they were not given bail. Such inmates should not be kept here for long,” Bainda said.

She said the management has failed to inculcate good values among inmates and there is a dire need to create a good environment if one wants them to reform. “Proper counseling of inmates was not done. The authorities failed to introduce new activities and did not inquire about their background and circumstances under which they were sent to the juvenile home. Such homes are meant to change the mindset of these juveniles, who had committed a crime at a young age, and transform them into good humans. We will start the counseling of the inmates soon,” Bainda added.

While nine of the 17 inmates who ran away face murder charges, three are facing attempt to murder cases, two were booked under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act and two others face theft and a rioting case. Eight of them belong to Jhajjar district, two each are from Rohtak, Hisar and Delhi and one each from Bhiwani, Dadri and Karnal.

Hisar SP Balwan Rana had said they have arrested three out of the 17 juveniles who had fled the home.