Vanita Ashram death: Minor's parents summoned for questioning today

The parents of the minor girl, who had mysteriously died in Gandhi Vanita Ashram's Children's Home in Jalandhar on November 21, have been summoned by the inquiry officer for questioning tomorrow.

As per preliminary reports, the girl had previously tried to escape (at Ferozepur) to 'meet a boy' and was homesick in Jalandhar. The exhaust fan in the bathroom (where she had been found collapsed) had also been found fallen during the probe.

The SDM-II, Jalandhar, Shayari Malhotra, who has been tasked with the inquiry into the minor's death by the Jalandhar DC, today carried out investigation into the case. Spending five or six hours at the Children's Home, the SDM questioned the staff and inmates of the home. Officials said the conclusion to the probe can only be reached, when the viscera and the post-mortem reports arrive.

Under the directions of Malhotra, inquiry convener and District Programme Officer Manjinder Singh, the CDPO concerned; Medical Officer, Civil Hospital, Jalandhar; investigation officer, Division Number 2; Superintendent, District Child Welfare Comittee, Jalandhar, and Superintendent, Children Home, Gandhi Vanita Ashram, had been called for inquiry.

Along with this the staff, fellow inmates of the girl and security personnel on duty were also questioned.

The 15 year old girl from Ferozepur had arrived at the Children’s Home of the Gandhi Vanita Ashram in Jalandhar on November 19 and on the night of November 21, she was reportedly found collapsed at the home's bathroom floor. While the girl was taken to the Civil Hospital, Jalandhar, after being referred from a private hospital on the same night, she was declared brought dead by doctors.

During the probe some more revelations have also come to to the fore. The girl who was living in a room with seven to eight inmates, had gone to the bathroom on the night of November 21. The probe has also revealed that this bathroom was only a toilet, the exhaust fan in which was found to be fallen and a chair was also found kept in it. As per the home's superintendent's intimation to the department, inmates and security personnel had found her collapsed on the floor, after they looked in, when she hadn't come out of the bathroom for long, on the fateful night.

SDM II Shayari Malhotra said, "We had a detailed interaction with ashram staff and inmates today. As per preliminary findings, the girl was homesick and wanted to go back home. It is too early in the probe to draw a conclusion. The girl's parents will also be questioned and have been called in. More can only be said when the postmortem report arrives. Until then a diligent prove is being carried out and all aspects will be explored." The SDM also said the girl also had a previous escape attempt where she tried to run off with a boy (also a minor) in Ferozepur and was traced and brought back.