The police are on the lookout for two inmates who escaped from the government observation home in Madiwala with the security guard’s cellphone last week. Though the youths are 19 and 20 years old, and not minors, they were housed in the facility last year.
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According to the police, the the duo had been booked on charges of rape and under provisions of POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act, and had been in the facility since November 20201. In the wee hours of January 6, they broke open the locks of the iron gates and escaped. The facility was guarded by the security guard on duty, but two youths managed to escape him. “They stole his mobile phone worth around ₹10,000, making a mockery of the security system,” said a police officer.
It was only on January 7 that the boys were reported missing. When staff at the observation home checked the gates, they realised that the doors and locks had been breached. Based on the complaint filed by Suresh S., in charge of the facility, the police have registered a case against the youths under Section 224 (resistance or obstruction by a person to his lawful apprehension) and Section 379 ( theft ) of the Indian Penal Code.