

TRICHY: Eighty nine girls of the controversial Mose Ministries orphanage in Trichy escaped from the home on Wednesday and staged a road blockade demanding that they be allowed to celebrate Christmas with the home's founder Gideon Jacob, who has been barred by the Madurai bench of the Madras high court from entering the orphanage.

Child welfare officials and the police had a tough time dealing with the situation. Eventually, the girls were allowed to take part in the prayers in the church, where pastor Gideon Jacob was expected to deliver a sermon.

The 89 girls, 55 of them minor, ran out of the two campuses of the home around 8 am. They got out when a woman police security guard opened the main gate of one of the campuses to allow 21 children to board a school van. The girls headed for the other campus, where they roped in 34 girls before squatting on the congested road leading to G-corner. Police officials, including additional deputy commissioner R Radeeka, assistant commissioner of police, cantonment range, S Ashok Kumar, along with a large posse of police personnel, rushed to the spot.

Their effort to persuade the girls to disperse went in vain. Eventually, they got the girls to move out of the road, but the children stood firm on the demand to meet their 'redeemer' Gideon Jacob, who was accused of keeping the girls in violation of the Juvenile Justice (JJ) Act in the home after reportedly saving them from female infanticide in Usilampatti in Madurai.

District social welfare officer (DSWO) S Usha, district child protection officer (DCPO) M Saravanakumar and other officials tried to explain to the girls that there was a court order restraining Gideon Jacob and his aides from contacting the children, but the girls just would not listen.

The order of the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court dated December 07, 2015, allowed the children to celebrate Christmas in the home under the supervision of the court appointed committee chaired by the collector K S Palanisamy.

Assistant commissioner of police, intelligence section, K Arul Amaran even tried to get the former administrator of the home, John Abraham, to pacify the girls. However, he declined saying the court order barred him from conversing with the girls.

The high drama came to an end after the DSWO agreed to allow the girls to attend the sermon of Gideon Jacob between 10 and 10.30 pm.

Commissioner of police (CoP) Sanjay Mathur told TOI, "as per the court order, the girls will be attending the prayer in the church tonight and brought back to the orphanage after the prayer."

