THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The girl who went missing from Kazhakootam is expected to return home on Sunday night. A team of four police officers from Kazhakootam Police Station travelled to Visakhapatnam to bring her back to Kerala. They reached the shelter home of the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) in Visakhapatnam at 6.30 pm on Friday, where the girl was staying. Representatives from the Malayalee Association were also present with the police.
The police handed over a letter from the Kerala State CWC requesting the child’s release. Although the procedures for the release were completed, a special request was made to keep her at the shelter for one more day as it was late. The police team is expected to take charge of the girl by Saturday afternoon and begin their return journey to Kerala.
The team with the girl is expected to arrive in Thiruvananthapuram by Sunday night. Initially, it was planned that the girl would travel with the police on Friday itself. The four-member police team arrived in Visakhapatnam at 5.45 pm on Friday, after changing trains twice.
N M Pillai, A R G Unnithan and other members of the Malayalee Association had been waiting to assist them. The team had to arrange train tickets for the return journey but could only secure tickets back to Vijayawada by Saturday afternoon. From there, they will travel to Kerala on Kerala Express, which departs at 10 pm.
The girl’s parents, Anwar Hussain and Parveen Begum, are awaiting her return in Kazhakootam.
It was on Tuesday that the girl went missing from Kazhakootam. Thirty-six hours after she went missing, she was found on a train at Visakhapatnam railway station. She was found asleep on one of the berths in the Santragachi Antyodaya Express by Keralites, who identified her to be the missing child, and informed the matter to the Kerala Samajam members in Visakhapatnam.
The child was taken out of the train and handed over to the Railway Protection Force. The matter was duly conveyed to the child’s parents in Kazhakootam, who profusely thanked the state police and the media for getting her back without any harm.
