Kidnapped Kerala child found abandoned 25 km from home

A six-year old child who was abducted from Kollam in Kerala on Monday afternoon was found abandoned in a public ground in Kollam on Tuesday afternoon. 

Some locals spotted the child at the Asramam ground in Kollam city, around 25 kilometres away from her house in Oyoor near Pooyappally and alerted the police who were on a manhunt to nab the kidnappers who abducted the kid. 

Kerala Police shared a photo of the child after she had been rescued on the social media platform 'X'.

Some college students had spotted the child first. They said that a middle-aged woman left the child on a bench at the ground by around 1.30 pm. The woman and child were wearing masks.

As the woman did not return after some time, the girl students became suspicious. They alerted some elderly persons on the ground.

They spoke to the child and confirmed that it was the abducted child. Subsequently the police were alerted.

The child said that she was taken to a house on Monday night. She was left by the woman on the bench by telling that her father would be called.

The child was in a weak condition and hence may be shifted to hospital. Police also arranged a video call of the child with her family members.

Meanwhile, the police were continuing the search for the gang that abducted the child. Police were learnt to have got some clues regarding the accused woman and traced the vehicle by which she reached the ground.

The child, identified as Abigail Sara Reji, the daughter of Reji John and Siji, was abducted by a four-member gang who were in a car while she was going for tuition with her elder brother.

The gang had demanded a ransom of Rs 10 lakh over phone but then later seems to have abandoned the child amid the police carrying out an intense manhunt for the kidnappers.

The child's mother had initially received a call at around 8 pm from an anonymous person demanding a ransom of Rs 5 lakh on Monday evening.

Later, a relative of the kid had received another call demanding a ransom of Rs 10 lakh by 10 am on Tuesday.