Patna: The escape of 13 girls from the Siwan shelter home is the latest in a series of security breaches at the facility. Similar incidents have been reported over the past decade, raising serious concerns over the safety and management of shelter homes in Bihar. In Jan 2014, nine girls escaped from the then Women Alpawas Grih in Siwan’s Town police station area. They used long pieces of cloth to climb down from the first floor. The facility was later relocated to Bhaisakhall in Jiradei and renamed Vrihad Ashray Grih in January this year. At the time of the 2014 escape, 19 women were residing at the shelter due to various legal cases. Reports suggested they fled due to poor food quality and lack of basic amenities. Following the incident, an FIR was filed by then district project officer Rajkumar Yadav. Just three months later, in April 2014, 11 more girls escaped but were later rescued by the police. The facility was also embroiled in controversy when one girl alleged that a sex racket was being run within the shelter. She said, “With the collusion of female guards, a flesh trade was operating at the shelter. Caretaker Santosh Chaudhary played a key role. Every night, he would exploit the captive women while the guards facilitated meetings between them and outsiders for money.” Based on these allegations, Chaudhary and three women guards — Shobha Devi, Madhu Devi and Neela Devi — were arrested, along with eight others. However, due to lack of evidence, the Siwan court later acquitted all accused. In Oct 2016, two more girls escaped by climbing out of a window using a sari as a rope. They had been playing carrom around midnight before making their escape. After repeated attempts, Siwan DM, Mukul Kumar Gupta, did not respond to calls or messages from TOI. Sadar SDM, Sunil Kumar, refused to comment on the matter, while CDPO and ADCPU also did not respond to calls.
