KOCHI: In an incident that put city cops on their toes, a 12-year-old girl who went missing after school hours was found after a tedious seven-hours search on Tuesday night.
The girl did not go back to her house after school time, owing to emotional distress caused after the school authorities confiscated her mobile phone. It was George Joy, a resident of Nayarambalam who first spotted the girl near Goshree bridge in Vallarpadam on Tuesday night.
“It was around 11pm when my friend and I were passing by the road that I spotted the girl,” said George.
“We found it odd that a little girl was cycling though the road in the middle of the night, that too in her school uniform,” he said. George, who had heard news reports that a girl had gone missing in Kochi in the evening, immediately turned his bike around to follow the girl and stopped her over the bridge.
“I stopped her bicycle and asked her which school she was in. She said she belongs to Elamakkara school and broke down in tears as she was extremely terrified by then. I consoled her, telling her not to worry and she was safe with us. We immediately called the police to notify them of the incident,” recalled George.
The girl, a Class VII student and a resident of Vaduthala, was reported missing by her parents, as she failed to reach home after school.
She reportedly fled home in distress after an incident in school.
“When I asked her why she did not go home after school she complained about certain incidents that happened in school. Her teachers had reprimanded her for something and that she was scared to go home, fearing she might be scolded by her parents as well,” said George.
“When we called the police, they asked if we found the same girl who went missing earlier that day asking her name, and it was found that it was the same girl,” he added.
The girl was safely taken home by her parents who came along with the police, as the result of George’s his timely act.
George is working as a fireman at DP World in Vallarpadam.