3 of 5 girls who fled from Ahmedabad observation home nabbed from central Gujarat village

Lunawada (Gujarat): Three of the five girls who had fled from the Vikas Gruh (observation home) in Paldi area of Ahmedabad city four days ago, were nabbed again today from Nana Natva village under Santrampur police station of Mahisagar district in Central Gujarat,’ police said.

In-charge PSI of Santrampur, V P Parmar today said that the 3 girls (all aged around 17 and residents of different villages of Santrampur taluka) had arrived in the village last evening. ‘Nana Natva is the village of the man with whom one of them, resident of Hirapur village, had eloped. The man is now in jail under allegation of rape. We had kept a watch at possible places of the arrival of the girls belonging to our area and after getting info about their coming to Nana Natva we nabbed them from there today,’ he said adding that the two others were residents of Kaligam and Detroj villages.

‘During interrogation they said that they fled from the observation home as they fled home sick,’ the PSI said adding that the girl from Hirapur has an infant with her. He said that that the three girls have been handed over to Paldi police.

Notably the five girls, all kept in the observation home after eloping with different men, had fled in the night of May 3. Apart from the 3 nabbed today two others aged 16 and 18 yrs, who had also fled with them were from Viramgam. Attempts were on to nab them also. One of the girl from Viramgam was also mother of a child of less than a year of age.

Taking suo motu cognizance , the State Women’s Commission had sent notices to the police and the authorities of the observation home to submit a report on the incident which was third such case In the last 13 months. The Vikas Gruh was also in the news last year, when a speech and hearing impaired woman was raped by a staff member.

DeshGujarat