Delhi Police use Google Maps to reunite father with daughter after 4 months

NEW DELHI: Google Maps helped Delhi Police reunite a 12-year-old girl with her family more than four months after she went missing. The girl, who is mentally challenged, was unable to give police the correct name of her village, but on searching for places near the village named by her, they located her village and were able to trace her family, police said.

The girl had taken an e-rickshaw in Kirti Nagar on March 21. When she did not get down at the metro station, the e-rickshaw driver asked her where she wanted to go, but she did not answer. He took her to the Kirti Nagar police station, a police officer said.

All that the girl could tell police was that she was from “Khurja” village and her father’s name was Jeetan.
Police searched Khajuri Khas and Khureji areas of Delhi, which have names similar to “Khurja”, but could not find any records of missing complaints being filed.

They took the girl to a nearby JJ colony, but no one could identify her.

The girl said she had travelled to Delhi by a train a couple of days ago with an uncle named ‘Pintu’. He took off her clothes in the train’s washroom and left her there when she started crying, police said.

On medical examination, no sign of sexual assault was found. The girl was later handed over to an NGO named Nirmal Chhaya, the police said.

The police took the girl to Khurja village in Bulandshahr district of Uttar Pradesh four times, but failed to get any information about her family.

When a police team was taking the girl to Khurja on July 31, she was asked the names of places near her village. She mentioned Sonbarsa and Sakapar. On Google Maps, the police found villages by that name, and village “Kurja”, in Siddharthnagar district of UP.

Her family was traced, and on August 1 her father came to Delhi. He said he had brought his daughter to Delhi for treatment when she went missing.

How girl’s family was traced

•  March 21: Girl takes e-rickshaw in Kirti Nagar
•  She did not get down at metro station. E-rickshaw driver took her to local police station
•  Girl told police she was from “Khurja” village
•  Police searched Khajuri Khas and Khureji areas of Delhi, with names similar to “Khurja”. No one there could identify her
•  She was taken to Khurja village in Bulandshahr district of UP by the police four times, but no clue on her family was found
•  Girl mentioned Sonbarsa, Sakapar as places near her village
•  On Google Maps, police found villages by that name, and village Kurja, in Siddharthnagar, UP and traced her family