8 boys cut toilet grille to escape from remand home

Eight juvenile delinquents escaped from the state-run home for boys in Madiwala, South Bengaluru,  on Sunday. One of them returned along with his parents hours later.

The boys, aged between 16 and 18, cut the iron grille and broke a windowpane in a toilet next to their classroom to sneak out  between 2.45 pm and 3 pm, a staff member told DH. The  boys were part of a group  that was watching television in the classroom, the  staffer said. After lunch, the boys are supposed to attend a class on non-formal education.  

Five of the runaway boys had committed crimes registered at  HSR Layout, Tilak Nagar and RT Nagar police stations while three were from Hebbagodi and Thirumalashettyhalli  police stations. Four of them already had a criminal record when they were brought to the remand home, the staffer added.  

"We have informed the police stations concerned as well as the boys' parents so that they can keep tabs on them,"  Vasanthi, the superintendent of the observation home,  told this newspaper.

Just two weeks  ago, six boys had escaped from the remand home but five of them returned later. The boys had cut a roof grille  that led to an open area. They did that from a room near the kitchen, according  to the staffer.  

Vasanthi said it was difficult for the short-staffed remand home to keep watch on 40-50 boys.  The boys keep roaming  the large campus of the observation home, she added.