Thiruvananthapuram: Four residents, two of them minor, of the Mahila Mandiram at Poojappura who escaped from the home early Friday have been traced by the police and brought back.
The four, all belonging to other States, made their escape under the cover of darkness but it was not long before the home authorities realised they were missing and informed the police who discovered and returned them.
The modus operandi adopted during an escape bid earlier was followed this time too, it is suspected, underlining the need for completing pending repairs at the home.
The minors had been brought there two days ago on the directions of the Child Welfare Committee. Of the remaining, one had been there for a month, and the other a year, sources said.
Later in the morning, officials of the Social Justice Department visited the home and interacted with the four. They had no complaints about the Mahila Mandiram, but tried to escape as they wanted to return back home, an official said.
District Social Justice Officer L. Rajan said language issues were probably coming in the way of their communicating with the home authorities. He said the girls wanted to return home to be among people they knew. “In the wake of this incident, priority will be to take steps to send them back to their home States, and this will be included in the report to the Social Justice Director.”
While repatriation of children was made easier by establishing contact with child welfare committees in other States, in the case of adults, there were no similar committees or semi-judicial institutions in the State or in other States. The department would have to take the initiative to find suitable institutions in their home States to accommodate them.
To prevent the girls from feeling lonely or alienated, steps would be taken to make services of more counsellors available.
The department was considering posting more security personnel round the clock in the department’s institution complex where the Mahila Mandiram and the Nirbhaya home were located.
Mr. Rajan said there was also a proposal to construct modern multi-storeyed building to house the residents of the instutition complex together so that they did not remain cooped up inside their rooms and could interact with others.