As many as nine girls, including the victims of child sex abuse cases, went missing from a shelter home in Manganam, near Kottayam, on Monday morning. The police later traced them to the house of a relative of one of the girls at Elanji near Piravom.
The incident came to light around 5.30 a.m. when the shelter home officials came to their rooms to wake them up. On an alert, the Kottayam East police launched a search operation and traced the girls by noon. During interrogation, the girls cited the lack of adequate facilities at the shelter home as the reason for fleeing.
Case not registered
Kottayam District Police Chief K. Karthick said the police had not registered any case in connection with the incident. “We have not received any complaints regarding the difficulties that they reportedly faced in the shelter. We will look into the issue if we get any complaint from the girls or any other persons,” he said.
The girls would be produced before a magistrate, officials said. The shelter home, run by an NGO named Mahila Samakhya, is accredited under the State Social Justice department and functions under the Child Welfare Committee.
