Noida: Three minor inmates of a govt children’s home slipped out of their school during lunch break on Monday, took an autorickshaw to Pari Chowk and boarded a bus to Aligarh before being spotted hours later, still in their school uniforms, wandering on a road in Khair. They were brought back and counselled before being shifted to a one-stop centre.The girls — aged 10, 12 and 13 — were brought to the children’s home in Sector 62 from child care institutions in Aligarh, Ghaziabad and Amroha. On Monday, they arrived at a Sector 51 school by bus, accompanied by a woman helper. During the lunch break, they told the helper they were going to the washroom and slipped out unnoticed.When the helper could not locate them after an initial search, she alerted the school principal and police were called in. A case was registered under BNS Section 137(2) at Sector 49 police station. Multiple teams were deployed to scan CCTV footage from the school, nearby roads and bus stands.By late evening, Khair police station in Aligarh reported that three girls matching the description were found. A local resident spotted them wandering on a road and dialled 112. Police took them into custody and informed their Noida counterpart.During questioning, the girls said they did not want to remain at the children’s home and had planned to make their way to distant relatives. Police said all three were rescued earlier from difficult family situations involving violence. The escape plan, officers said, was devised by the youngest of the three.After leaving school, the girls secured a free autorickshaw ride to Pari Chowk and boarded a bus towards Aligarh. With no money to continue beyond Khair, they got off there, police said.After counselling by police and child welfare officials, the girls were shifted to a one-stop centre in Noida. Childline and child welfare authorities said they would now determine their rehabilitation and shelter arrangements.Police, meanwhile, are investigating the circumstances of the escape to establish whether there were lapses in the school’s security arrangements.
