Tamil Nadu: Two-year-old missing child found after over 100 days

CHENNAI: A two-year-old girl from a Narikuravar family, who went missing at Kancheepuram close to four months ago, was rescued by police and reunited with her family on Tuesday. Police have arrested one man for allegedly kidnapping the child.

Throughout the 114 days during which the child has been missing, her family has been camped in front of the Anaikat police station, where she was last seen.  Police said that after searching for the child in two states, they received a tip that a girl who matched the missing child's description had been found in Thiruporur in Kancheepuram. The police team rescued the girl at around 2 am on Tuesday after a 5-hour search in the area and arrested a man identified as Prakash.

 

The child, Harini, had been found missing on September 15, 2018. That month, she was travelling with her parents Venkatesan (25) and Kaliammal, from the Narikuravar community, around Kancheepuram, with relatives, selling beads and other handmade products. The family hails from Manamathy village of the same district. After a week of travel, the family had visited the Edaikazhinadu temple and halted at Ponjur for the night.

“The family was travelling in a friend's autorickshaw of their friend. They had been selling beads, feathers and handmade pouches. They had parked the vehicle near Ponjur bazaar at around 10.30pm on September 14. At close to 2 am on September 15, Venkatesan noticed the child was missing. The family alerted members of the community in the district and lodged a complaint at the Anaikat police station,” said an investigating officer.

As the police initially adopted a lackadaisical approach their complaint, the family prepared a temporary settlement in front of the Anaikat police station, promising that they won't leave until the child was found. Meanwhile, an NGO from Karur took up the issue and announced Rs 1 lakh as a reward for information about the child.

“We received information that the girl was in Mumbai and Kolkata. We sent special teams to those states but found that they were hoaxes,” said Kancheepuram superintendent of police, Santhosh Haidmeni.

On Monday, the police received information that a child who matched Harini's description was seen at Thiruporur. The special team rushed to area. After five hours of searching, they rescued the child and arrested the man identified as Prakash.

According to preliminary investigations of police,  Prakash was having an affair with a married woman who had no children. He had kidnapped Harini to give to that woman but she had refused to take the child. After the matter hit the news, he did not know what to do and kept the child in a secret place, police said. Further investigations are on.

Caption: Harini (2) with her father Venkatesan and Kaliammal. Along with the police team that rescued the girl.