BENGALURU: Earlier this year, a city girl had got Prime Minister Narendra Modi to counsel parents not to exert undue pressure on their wards for excelling in academics.
This goes to show how worried students are about disappointing their parents when the results are out. With that said, With that said, on Thursday, Deepika (name changed), a 19-year-old engineering student went missing from her house in Bandepalya, HSR layout.
On Friday, the police commissioner’s office was informed by the Kodaikanal police that a girl from Bengaluru has been traced in their jurisdiction and asked them to check if a missing person’s complaint had been registered in the city. “When she was wandering around in Kodaikanal, the police suspected something unusual and took her in. Though she refused to give in any details, it was understood that she was from Bengaluru and we were informed about it,” said a police official.
Sandhya Rani, in-charge of senior citizens at Vanitha Sahayavani (women’s helpline), informed members of the missing persons’ WhatsApp group when she came across this case. Bandepalya police reverted stating that they had received a complaint on the same.
“The girl is on her way back right now and will reunite with her parents,” a constable told CE. Police suspect examination stress led Deepika to leave the house. Experts working with runaway children say many such cases are reported during examination time every year.
Last year, 15-year-old Shivarama (name changed), a class 10 student, went missing from his house in Rajajinagar in the city. Following his disappearance, a post on a social networking website seeking help to trace him has gone viral.
According to Ramaswamy, coordinator of Bosco Mane, an NGO that works with children, many children run away from their homes and land up in Bengaluru. They resort to this act for various reasons, including domestic violence. However, out of every 10 children, four to five run away due to exam-related stress.