29 August,2016 08:29 AM IST | | Asif Rizvi
Two girls went missing from their homes on August 22 and August 26. The first girl was found on the highway near Vasai Gaon the next day and the second at Mankhurd railway station the same night
The kidnapping of two four-year-old girls in just four days have brought back memories of the horrors of the 2010 rape and murders of minor girls.
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Mamata in the lap of her elated mother
In the recent incidents, two girls went missing from their homes on August 22 and August 26. The first girl was found on the highway near Vasai Gaon the next day and the second girl was found at Mankhurd railway station the same night.
Jivika with her relieved grandmother. Pics/Rajesh Gupta
The police said the two were not sexually assaulted.
For the residents of the sprawling slum pocket, the incidents have brought back memories of a series of rape-murders of minor girls from six years ago. The police said both girls were kidnapped after dusk and suspect that the same man is involved in both cases.
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The CCTV footage showing the accused man holding Jivika's hand and walking away
In the first case on August 22, Jivika Phulwaria (4) was playing outside her home in Vatsaltai Nagar. Her parents noticed she was missing only when she did not return home at the usual time.
"My granddaughter does not actually go to strangers," said Tulsi, Jivika's grandmother. "When she did not return home, her mother went outside to check and did not find her. We searched for about an hour and then went to the police station. The next morning we got a call from the police that she was traced in Vashi Gaon. We were so relieved. We went with the Nehru Nagar police to get her."
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When the police spoke to Jivika about her kidnapper, she could not give them much information. But they managed to get CCTV footage showing a man taking her by her arm and walking away.
In the second case on August 26, four-year-old Mamata Jagriwal was playing outside her house late in the evening when she went missing.
When she did not come home till 8 pm, her family approached the local police, but at around 9.30 pm, the Mankhurd Railway Protection Force (RPF) officials called in, saying she has been found sitting alone at the station.
When the RPF spoke to Mamata, she could only say that "an uncle had brought her and left her there. She told them she was from Thakkar Bappa Colony in Nehru Nagar.
Her father Ramesh said, "Luckily, I got my child back. She is still in shock and told us that the person who took her from the spot first took her in an autorickshaw and then in a local train. For some reason he left her at the station."
Pramod Khorpade, senior police inspector, Nehru Nagar, said, "Both incidents occurred in the same area and we suspect that the same person is involved in both cases."
Ranjit Singh, senior police inspector, Mankhurd RPF, said, "When the girl said she was from Thakkar Bappa Colony in Kurla we contacted the local sources and traced her family. She was then handed over to them."
Following the incidents, the Nehru Nagar police have extended patrolling in the area. They are also on the lookout for the man who lured the girls with chocolates and then took them with him.
The suspect is a middle-aged man and the police have ascertained that he slapped and threatened them. Khorpade added, "Two FIRs of kiddnapping have been registered and we are in the process of recovering more clues to trace and nab the culprit."
