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Chandigarh: Missing 11-year-old girl lands in shelter home, family alleges police negligence
Minor to be produced before the child welfare committee in Chandigarh on Monday.
Due to the lack of coordination among various police wings in the city, an 11-year-old girl, who was reported missing from Mauli Jagran, ended up at Nari Niketan in Sector 26 here. As the Mauli Jagran police station failed to keep the police control room in loop, she was taken to the women shelter in a PCR vehicle after cops found her walking on the road alone three days ago.
The girl’s mother said it was through a call from the shelter home that they got information about her daughter on Friday.
On July 15, the girl’s mother had approached the Mauli Jagran police station and lodged a complaint, following which a case of kidnapping was registered. However, the police station was unaware that the child had already been found by a PCR vehicle and taken to the Nari Niketan.
This comes after four cases of missing minor girls were recently reported at four different police stations on the same day.
The 11-year-old stays with her aunt in Vikas Nagar in Mauli Jagran, while her mother and two brothers live in Daddu Majra colony along with her grandmother. “On July 15 around 1pm, she had gone out to play, but got lost on her way back home,” said the mother.
Later when a PCR vehicle spotted the child, the cops tried talking to her, but she did not speak. The PCR then took her to Nari Neketan, and there too she could not share any information about her address.
“Though intimation was sent to all the police stations regarding an 11-year-old having been found, but the Mauli Jagran police station did not respond,” alleged the mother.
“Had the police acted in time the child would have been home sooner. Her medical examination has been done and we have met her. She is safe, but the two days when we did not know her whereabouts were like hell,” the mother added.
She said she would visit the Nari Niketan on Monday to complete the formalities and bring her daughter home, though she would have to undergo quarantine in the wake of Covid-19 spread.
When asked, Chandigarh Police public relations officer DSP Charanjit Singh said, “The child remembered her address of DMC only so the information was shared with the concerned police station, but no missing complaint was found there. It was only on July 17 that the Mauli Jagran police station got information that the child had been taken to Nari Niketan by officials of Bapu Dham police post on July 15. The Mauli Jagran SHO then contacted the Nari Niketan superintendent, who informed him that the child’s family was informed.”
The girl is now safe and will be produced before the child welfare committee on July 20.
