18 girls evacuated from dera shelter home

Tribune News Service

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Sirsa, August 29

The authorities in Sirsa today evacuated 18 girls from Shahi Betiyan Basera, a children home for orphaned girls in Dera Sacha Sauda here, following directions by the State Commission for Protection of Children Rights.

An official informed The Tribune that the girls, who are in the age group of 2 to 14, would be medically examined and then shifted to Bal Gram, a protection home of the Women and Child Development Department for girls, at Rai in Sonepat.

The move has been initiated after the visit of Jyoti Bainda, commission’s chairperson, who was in Sirsa yesterday and issued written directions to Prabhjot Singh, Sirsa Deputy Commissioner, to evacuate the girls.

“I have come to know that 29 girls are residing in Shahi Betiyan Basera in Sirsa. After due consideration of unavoidable circumstances in Dera Sacha Sauda, you are directed to ensure the safety of girls on a priority basis and take immediate steps to shift them to some other protected place,” Bainda said in her orders issued in the name of the DC.

The commission chairperson has also instructed the DC to send the action taken report at the earliest.

“We knew that the arrangements in the Dera for these girls were very nice and they were being provided education in the international school of the Dera. However, considering the volatile situation there after the verdict and the fact that Shahi Betiyan Basera was not registered with the government, we decided to evacuate them,” Jyoti told The Tribune.

About the other 11 girls still left in the Dera, Jyoti said they were above the age of 18 and hence, they were free to live at the place of their choice. “The authorities have taken their consent in writing that they were living there willingly,” she said.

Yesterday, the authorities had rescued 34 boys from Shahi Asra Basera, another shelter home of the Dera.

On August 20, the commission had inspected the two shelter homes and had directed the DGP to take measures for the safety of 29 boys and 36 girls living there.