Fifteen injured in Hardoi juvenile home violence

The report submitted to the district magistrate also said that there were a few in the correctional home who are “juvenile” on paper but appear to be more than 18 years old, and recommended that they be shifted to some other facility. Hardoi Additional District Magistrate (ADM) Vimal Agarwal said that 15 inmates were injured in the clash and three of them were serious. However the situation is now under control and the inmates are medically fine, he added.

“There were a few allegations by some of the inmates that other inmates had sexually harassed them. We are still investigating these allegations. However, the clash was not between juniors versus seniors. There were two groups involved. Basically, it was a fight for supremacy,” said City Magistrate Vandita Srivastava, who had inquired into the incident. “The main reason behind the Saturday clash was that on Friday some of the inmates complained to the superintendent that a few inmates brought restricted items into the facility. Things like gutakha and cigarettes were brought by guests coming to meet these inmates. The superintendent investigated and seized the restricted items and that made some of the inmates furious.”

The City Magistrate added that some inmates appeared to be over 18 years of age. On if there will be a medical test to confirm their age, she said only a judicial magistrate could ask for that.

This was not the first time such incident took place in the correctional home. While last year some of the inmates had managed to run away from the juvenile home, in 2013 around 60 inmates had taken control of the same juvenile home. The 2013 incident had taken place after the armed officials, including the jail superintendent, fled the correctional centre when the inmates snatched their guns and began firing in the air.