'I felt safer with cops than at Apna Ghar'

'I felt safer with cops than at Apna Ghar'
Preetu Nair, TNN

PANAJI: The 17-year-old boy from Assam, who was arrested by the Mormugao police, said that he felt safer with the police than with staffers at Apna Ghar.

The minor was arrested for criminal trespass and intent to commit a criminal offence when he entered the Navy premises at Bogda near Sada. He was later sent to Apna Ghar from where he went missing on January 6, but later "surrendered himself to the police". He was released on bail last Saturday by the district sessions judge at Panaji.

"I escaped as I feared for my life. I was scared and felt unsafe at Apna Ghar as I was constantly beaten by three boys in conflict with law there. Even when I complained to the authorities, no one offered to help me. After some time I stopped complaining for the fear that they would beat me up badly," he said. There were six more children residing with him in the room at Apna Ghar, of which three used to bully him.

"If I was sleeping, they would lift the bed and shake it. If I sat in a corner and read a book, they would come suddenly and beat me up. I was helpless as most of the time I was kept locked in the room along with the boys " he said.

The minor said that he seized an opportunity to escape on the afternoon of January 6 while the rest of the boys were watching television. "The boys who used to bully me, had earlier broken the window grill to escape and had put a cloth over it to conceal their act. They threatened me not to open my mouth and said that they had plans to escape that night. When I was alone in the room, I thought that this was the only opportunity to escape. I then jumped from the window and climbed over the boundary wall and escaped. Someone screamed out while I was escaping, but I just ran away," said the minor.

He revealed that he later walked to Panaji bus stand from where he took a bus to Margao. From Margao he took a train to Vasco and was loitering near the Vasco police station when he was apprehended by police. He was sent back to the Apna Ghar. Once there, it was another tale of horror for the boy. "Although I was kept in a separate room this time, the three boys were upset and they threatened to kill me. They even hit me while I was going for lunch one afternoon. But this time the staff intervened, " he added.

"So far, I am not aware of this matter as it has not been brought to my notice," said the director of women and child development, Sanjiv Gadkar, when contacted by TOI.

January 21,2009, The Times of India, Goa edition