NONGPOH:
After going missing for almost three days, a nine-year-old child from Ri Bhoi district of Meghalaya was found in a dense forest in Morigaon area, Assam on July 27.
The boy was allegedly kidnapped on July 25 while he was on his way home from school in Umling.
Concerned family members initiated a search when the child did not return home, and later that evening, they filed a missing complaint at the Nongpoh Police Station and Byrnihat Outpost.
Speaking to The Meghalayan, one of the family members said, “The suspect must have kidnapped the boy when he was on his way to school. The suspect vanished along with the child, and we had no information of their whereabouts. However, on the same evening, we received information that the police located the child in Morigaon, Assam.”
According to the family, the suspect had been making demands in phone calls, requesting Rs 2000 for mobile repair and the return of his wife. The suspect’s pregnant wife, who is also the child’s aunt, had been left alone, prompting suspicions that this might have been a motive for the kidnapping.
With the assistance of the Assam Police, the child was found in a dense forest in the Morigaon area.
“The child was weak due to being left without food in the forest. He was immediately taken to Morigaon Hospital, where the Meghalaya Police were informed of the situation. They promptly arrived and brought him back, but it was evident that he had endured a traumatic experience,” a police source said.
Police sources also informed that the child will undergo counselling to help him cope with the ordeal he went through. Currently, he is in a safe condition and able to communicate, although he has some bruises and redness in his eye. However, his ability to recall the details of the incident remains limited. The child has now been shifted to Civil Hospital Nongpoh.
Meanwhile, the suspect is still on the run.
More information about the case is still awaited from the police as the investigation continues.