She had climbed to the roof of the two-storey building in Dongri, in a bid to escape, after inmates told her she would be stuck there for two years; fire brigade took an hour to rescue her
The girl had climbed to the roof of the Dongri Children's Home. Pic/Getty Images
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Tension went through the roof at the Dongri children's home on Friday, when officials discovered a 16-year-old had climbed to the roof of the two-storey building in an attempt to escape. The roof was slick with rain, and the officials had to call the fire brigade to rescue the girl. It was later discovered that the girl panicked after two seniors told her that if she didn't escape with them, she would be stuck there till she turned 18.
Disoriented
The teenager, Anita (name changed), had spent barely two days in the shelter, after an activist found her alone and confused at Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT) on August 16. She had left her home in Hauda, Uttar Pradesh, to visit her brother in Thane. But when she disembarked at LTT, she did not know where to go.
An activist spotted the disoriented Anita and asked her where she was going, at which point the 16-year-old burst into tears. She could not contact her family either, as her cell phone's battery had run out. The activist handed the girl over to the Kurla GRP, which took her to the shelter run by the Children's Aid Society.
"She was brought here on August 16. As there was a holiday the next day (Parsi new year), the probation officer couldn't conduct her interview," said an official from the shelter. "On August 18, we sent an attendant to bring Anita for her interview at 3.30 pm, but she was nowhere to be found," the official added.
Rescued in an hour
A full headcount had been done during lunch at 2 pm, and Anita was present then. "Staffers began to search for her, but since she was new, no one knew her by face. When one of our employees was at the common wash basin, she spotted a girl in a blue dress on the rooftop, at least 50 feet high. Instead of shouting or letting the girl know that she had been spotted, the staffer came to the office and told us that she had been found," the official recalled.
The police arrived on the scene, followed by the fire brigade, who told the girl not to panic. "The roof was slippery, so the fire officers placed a net in the courtyard, in case she fell, and then climbed up on ladders from outside and handed a rope to her. They pulled the girl to safety within an hour," said a police officer.
Flawed plan
The officials later learnt that Anita had been egged on by two senior inmates, who persuaded her to hide there till it was dark, and then unlock their doors and escape with them. "What the girls didn't know was that they would also have to cross the boys' section and then the main gate. They would have been caught either way," said a cop, adding, "the girl's parents were informed on Saturday after her cell phone was charged by the officials. She will be handed over to her parents on Monday."
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