Man kidnaps 4-yr-old girl on pretext of finding work for her parents

A man kidnapped a four-year-old girl on the pretext of helping her parents find jobs. Police have rescued the girl and are questioning the suspect.

The couple — a 27-year-old woman and her 30-year-old husband — came to Bengaluru with their three children in search of work last month. The children are aged six, four and one-and-a-half. The family is from Hunsur, Mysuru district.

The couple came to Bengaluru after someone promised them manual work at KR Market. While the couple didn’t find that person, they worked in KR Market, Kalasipalya and the surrounding areas for 20 days and took shelter in a religious place.

The couple’s four-year-old daughter was born in Vani Vilas Hospital. They decided to go to the hospital and get her birth certificate. The hospital staff asked them to come the next day.

The couple and their children were at the hospital gate when a stranger walked up to them. He asked who they were and why they had come to the city. The couple opened up to him.

The stranger promised them work and took them in an auto-rickshaw to the Mysuru Road toll gate. He asked the woman to stay at the bus stand with the children and took her husband to a bar. He bought him alcohol and got him drunk.

On their way back, the husband dozed off at the bus stand. The stranger told the woman he would buy her daughter chocolates and took her along.

He didn’t return.

The woman got worried while her husband remained intoxicated. She took her two children and went looking for the four-year-old girl. The search went in vain. She went to the police.

The couple’s eldest child, a six-year-old son, had followed the stranger and seen him get into a bus with his little sister.

Police checked CCTV footage and reached out to their informants. They managed to trace the suspect and rescue the girl. The girl was medically examined and lodged in an ashram. While the suspect hasn’t disclosed anything, police are trying to find out why he kidnapped the girl.

Speaking to DH, the girl’s grandfather said the police contacted him on Thursday evening and asked them to come with documents. They would hand over the girl after verifying the documents.