Pregnant girl abducted from government care centre in Belagavi, accused held

Police have arrested a person for allegedly abducting a minor girl from the district child care home in Belagavi, Karnataka. The girl has been rescued.

On July 30, the accused — Chandrakant Lavage — went to the centre run by the district child protection committee and abducted the pregnant girl at knife point. She was married to him a few months ago. Since it was a child marriage, officials had brought the girl to the centre.

On August 4, the girl was rescued from a village in Belagavi district.

The accused has been sent to jail while the girl has been returned to the centre.

The accused had gained entry into the centre by falsely claiming to be the girl’s uncle and that he had brought some medicines for her. He later threatened the female staff members, and fled with the girl on a bike. The staff complained to the police.

M. N. Chetan Kumar, Deputy Director of Women and Child Welfare, has ordered a departmental inquiry.

Police Commissioner Borase Bhushan Gulabrao has sought a report on the security situation in such centres. He said police will work with the departments concerned to increase the number of male staff and discuss the possibilities of increasing security measures in such centres.