A total of 13 minor girls, including rape survivors, escaped from a government-run child care home in Odisha's Ganjam district, officials said on Tuesday.
The girls, aged between 12 and 16 years, might have fled from the Utkal Balashram at Goshaninuagoan by scaling a wall at the rear of the building on Monday night, they said.
The Home's superintendent Sasmita Rani Padhy reported the matter to the police and other higher officers on Tuesday.
While eight of the girls were rape survivors, other five had either been rescued from traffickers or had gone missing from their houses, officials said.
As many as 50 such girls were housed in the Home.
"Our priority is to rescue the girls who fled from the child care home," said Berhampur Sub-Collector Shinde Dattatraya Bhausaheb.
The sub-collector said one of the escaped girls has been traced to her relative's house at Bhubaneswar and others might also be in and around the capital city.
A team of the police along with the staff of the child care home had been sent to trace them, he said.
"We will also inquire to ascertain the circumstances in which the children escaped. Action will be taken against those responsible for their escape," he said after visiting the Home.
Though the exact cause of their escape from the House was not known immediately, sources said there was a conflict between two groups of inmates over some issues for the past few days.
District Child Protection Officer Subodh Kant Sarangi said counselling of the inmates have been going on for the last three to four days.
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