JOIN USA 16-year-old boy, who went missing from his house in Girinagar on May 20, was traced to the Tirumala temple by a tourist, who alerted the boy’s family.
Incidentally, a video by Sandalwood actor Kiccha Sudeep appealing to the boy to return home had gone viral.
The actor is seen assuring the boy that he would meet him in person if he returns home. “Fights with your parents can’t beat their love for you. Please come back home,” the actor appealed in the video.
The boy returned home on Tuesday, and both he and his mother thanked the actor and the Girinagar police for their efforts.
Manikanta, a Class 9 student of a private school in Girinagar, was angry with his parents for asking him why he did not attend his tuition classes. He left home on May 20 and did not return. His anxious parents approached the Girinagar station and filed a missing complaint.
Hopes of the reunion materialised when Manikanta, who was in Tirupati, started chatting with a tourist there and narrated his story. The man, who had come across the video on YouTube, alerted the boy’s family.
However, the police said the video had little to do with the reunion and that it was their effort that led to his return. A police officer said the boy managed to survive in Tirupati without money since he dined at the temple’s free meal complex.