Representational Image. (Express Illustrations)
Representational Image. (Express Illustrations)

Fearing punishment, siblings spend night hiding in bushes in Odisha's Jagatsinghpur

The kids had failed to complete the home assignment and were afraid that they might be punished.

JAGATSINGHPUR: Fearing punishment for not completing homework, two minor siblings of a village in Jagatsinghpur ran away from home and reportedly spent the entire night hiding in wild bushes before being rescued by police in the wee hours of Wednesday, October 6, 2021. The two brothers are students of Kadaki Project School in Tanra panchayat. Both belong to Tanra village under Raghunathpur police limits.

While the elder sibling, nine-year-old, studies in Class IV, the younger, about seven, is a student of Class II. Since school was closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, they used to go to the house of a private tuition teacher for studies. Sources said the tuition teacher had assigned homework to the siblings on Monday. However, the kids had failed to complete the home assignment and were afraid that they might be punished.

In the evening, the children as usual left home telling their parents that they were headed to the tuition class. However, they didn’t reach the teacher’s place. After waiting for a couple of hours, the teacher informed their parents that the kids had not turned up. Panicked, the parents searched the houses of their neighbours and relatives but in vain. The father then lodged a missing complaint with police in the night.

Police said the siblings were rescued after nearly eight hours of search. Raghunathpur IIC Debendra Mohapatra said after getting the missing report, a police team was engaged to trace the kids. “The team searched from 8 pm to 3.30 am and finally found them sleeping near some bushes. We handed them over to their family members on Wednesday. Prima facie, it appears that the kids ran away fearing punishment as they had not completed their homework,” the IIC added.

Father Ratan Das (name changed) said, “As the schools are yet to open, I used to send my kids to a private tuition teacher’s house. I don’t have a smartphone due to which the children were not able to attend the daily YouTube classes.”
 

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