Class 9 girl goes missing, reunited with family within hours

Afraid that she may be forced to drop out of school for scoring less in exams, a class 9 student left home Tuesday but did not reach her school, following which the family approached the police who traced her within a few hours.

The girl, a student of a Delhi government school, is a resident of west Delhi's Punjabi Bagh and was traced in about three hours after the police were informed, police said.

Footages of multiple cameras installed on the route between her house and the school, located a few kilometres away in the same area, were scanned, a senior police officer said.

The 14-year-old girl took an auto but she got down before the school near JJ park and roamed around, another officer said.

The girl usually went to school with her brother but because of an exam, she left for school in an auto alone while her brother was at home preparing for his next papers.

Before leaving for exam, her mother had warned of consequences if she did not perform well in exams as she had not been studying for the last few days, police said.

Fearing this, she decided to not attend the exam and instead got down from the auto before reaching the school, the officer added.

The girl was later spotted near DDA flats at Ring road in the area in a CCTV camera grab, the police officer.

The girl's mother was informed by the school that her daughter had not reached there. She reached the school to find about her, the police officer said.

She also enquired drivers of auto-rickshaws parked outside the school but could not get any information about her daughter, he added.

Later, she approached the police who then started scanning through CCTV footages.

In CCTV footages, the girl was seen boarding the auto and at JJ park area, she got down from the vehicle. She was then seen moving towards DDA flats near the locality and was finally traced down to Ring Road near a flyover in Punjabi Bagh, the officer said.

Police rushed to the spot and tried convincing the girl to return home. However, she refused to return home fearing that her mother would scold her and would be made to sit at home if she failed or did not score well in exam, he said.

But the police managed to convince the girl and told her to discuss the issue with her parents before taking any step. Finally, the girl was handed over to her family, he added.