In Ludhiana, police failed to register a criminal case or initiate a search for almost a month after a 17-year-old girl reportedly escaped from a state-mandated children's home, according to allegations from her parents. The officers, who claimed the teenager fled the facility near Ludhiana on May 11, only committed to filing a first-information report (FIR) on Monday following media inquiries.
Parental Allegations and Concerns
The girl's father, a daily-wage laborer, stated that the management at the observation home failed to notify the family about the escape. The parents only discovered their daughter was missing when they visited her on May 20. "We went to the Doraha police station, where officers promised to register a case and find our daughter, but they did nothing," the father told The TOI. "I am worried she has been killed or exploited."
A court had placed the teenager in the facility for her own protection after police rescued her in February from a man who allegedly abducted her for marriage.
Police Justification and Response
Doraha's station house officer (SHO), Inspector Akash Dutt, defended the delay, stating that officers were conducting a preliminary inquiry to determine internal accountability at the care facility. "This is not the first case of a girl going missing from there," Dutt said. "The FIR will be lodged today (on Monday)."
With the help of a local advocate, the parents have filed a formal complaint with Doraha's superintendent of police and written to the director of social security and women's and child development. Management at the children's observation home declined to comment.
