DIMAPUR, JANUARY 24 (MExN): Two runaway minors were rescued from the Dimapur railway station on January 24. In their mid-teens, the girls had left home, reportedly to seek employment.
They were intercepted at the railway platform by police, along with a 24 year-old man identified as one Bharat Kumar Mahato, after a verbal complaint was received by the Women Cell, Dimapur. The man was arrested, while the girls were placed in protective custody.
They were headed to Guwahati from Kohima, the officer in-charge of Women Cell disclosed. The man, according to the girls’ statements, had befriended them during the two-hour trip from Kohima to Dimapur in the taxi they shared. They had reached Dimapur on Thursday evening. The girls’ initial destination was Dimapur but they changed their plan after Mahato assured them of jobs in Guwahati, according to the statement given by the girls to police.
Mahato reportedly runs a shop in Kohima along with his father and uncle. According to his initial statement given to police, he was headed to his hometown in Bihar. He met the two girls, who were headed to Dimapur, in the taxi he hailed in Kohima. Enroute, he befriended the girls.
In Dimapur, Mahato booked a hotel room, where they rested. The train they were supposed to take was scheduled to depart at 2:00 am, Friday. While in the hotel, Mahato allegedly tried to get cosy with one of the girls, according to the girls’ statements. Meanwhile, a relative of one of the girls spotted the trio at the railway station and informed the police.
Further, one of the girls said that she ran away from home on January 6. No record of the girl’s guardians filing a missing complaint was available with the Kohima police. Both the girls, who have passed their standard 8th examination, stated that they felt left out at home and made the decision to run away. Asked if they desired to return their homes in Kohima, they replied in the negative.
The girls, along with Mahato, were taken by a police team from Kohima after Kohima police was informed.
