Girl stages own kidnapping to spend night at friend’s house

THANE: A 16-year-old girl from Kalyan staged her own kidnapping to spend the night at her 19-year-old friend’s place in Dombivli.

The police registered a kidnapping case on Monday, traced the girl on Tuesday and handed her over to her family. They arrested the youth for kidnapping. The girl lives in Kalyan and is a Class 10 student. Her friend is an engineering student.

“On November 23, the girl left her house around 1.30pm on the pretext of getting her school bag repaired. She boarded a local from Vitthalwadi station, got down at Dombivli and went to the youth’s house,” said a senior police officer from Kalyan police station.

Her parents and elder brother called and texted her. She replied, saying that she had been kidnapped and that the accused was going to sell her. The parents registered a case under section 363 (punishment for kidnapping) of the Indian Penal Code. “We wondered how a kidnapped girl could send a text message from her phone. Then we began tracing her mobile,” said a police officer.

The officer said that on Tuesday she texted her elder brother, saying that she had escaped from the clutches of the kidnapper and was in a train. “She said that she was wearing a burqa, and had taken the help of a woman to escape. With the help of sources and technology, we traced her to Dombivli railway station, and handed her over to her family on Tuesday night. We have taken the youth into custody,” added the officer.

The girl told the police that she wanted to spend the night at her friend’s house. “The boy claimed that she gave him the false assurance that she was alone and had no family,” said the officer. The youth was produced in court on charges of kidnapping and was released on bail.