VIRUDHUNAGAR : A 14-year-old girl held her three-year-old nephew captive at knifepoint for nearly six hours near Sivakasi in Virudhunagar district, demanding a new Nothing phone so she could speak to a friend. She released the child unharmed around 2 am on Friday, after police personnel arranged to get her the handset from a mobile phone shop.
The incident came to light around 8 pm on Thursday, when the girl’s family noticed her entering a room in the house. Suspecting that the three-year-old might be with her, they went looking for him and found both inside the locked room. The girl, whose parents had died, is under the care of her elder sister, brother, aunt and uncle.
When the family members asked her to open the door, she refused and held a kitchen knife to the boy’s neck, demanding a new Nothing phone. Initially, the family thought she was doing it for fun, but soon realised that she was serious. She had been using her elder sister’s phone until then and wanted one of her own. When the family’s attempts to persuade her failed, they alerted the police.
Police personnel, including DSP (Sivakasi) Anilkumar, rushed to the spot and tried to convince her to release the child. However, she remained adamant about getting the phone. By then, it was around 10.30 pm, and mobile phone shops in the locality had closed.
The police were also unsure whether a Nothing phone was available nearby. A team comprising family members and police personnel travelled around 15 km to Sivakasi explained the situation to a shopkeeper and assured him that they would return the mobile phone. The handset was then taken to the house and handed over to the girl.
The standoff finally ended around 2 am on Friday, when she released the 3-year-old boy, who was found to be physically unharmed.
