Rescued minor claims abduction 10 years ago
Bharatpur police have ‘rescued’ a 15-year-old girl, who claimed that she was abducted 10 years back by the family she was living with, police said
Bharatpur police have ‘rescued’ a 15-year-old girl, who claimed that she was abducted 10 years back by the family she was living with, police said.
The minor was recovered by police from a Muslim household in Peepal Khera village of Bharatpur’s Nagar Pahari tehsil on Thursday after some social organizations informed them that the girl was being forcibly kept at the house, police said.
“We recovered the girl after a tipoff and handed her over to the CWC for investigation,” said Bharatpur superintendent of police Rahul Prakash.
“Based on their (the CWC’s) conclusions, we will decide if we need to take any legal action against her ‘family’.” The girl’s family fled, leaving her alone, when the police team raided the house, he said.
The minor was handed over to the Bharatpur Child Welfare Committee (CWC) on Friday.
The CWC — which has the authority of a judicial magistrate — is counseling the minor and trying to verify her claims.
“We are counseling her to verify the claim,” CWC president Alok Sharma told HT. “If needed, we will even think of going for a DNA test to confirm her allegations,” he said. Sharma said that the girl has claimed she is a Hindu and was kidnapped by the ‘family’ when she was barely five.
The minor also claimed that her ‘family’ had been trying to convert her to Islam, he said.
The minor told CWC counselors that she had overheard her ‘family’ discussing about sending her off to Gurgaon. Sharma said the ‘family’ was either trying to marry her off against her wish or sell her.