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Five Girls Vanish from Children's Home in Panvel
2 Oct
Summary
- Five girls, aged 12-17, went missing from Panvel shelter
- Shelter caretaker found girls absent during routine check
- Police launched search but could not trace the girls
On September 28, 2022, five girls between the ages of 12 and 17 went missing from a children's home called 'Swapnalay' in Panvel. The incident came to light when the caretaker, Kavita Pandit, found the girls absent during the routine morning head count at around 8 AM.
The youngest of the missing girls is a 12-year-old from Deoria, Uttar Pradesh, while the other four are from various parts of Panvel. Pandit immediately informed the shelter's superintendent, Shilpa Bambarkar, and filed a police complaint. The child welfare committee officials were also notified about the disappearance.
A case of kidnapping has been registered, and the police are investigating the matter further. They are examining CCTV footage in the area to try and trace the girls, who are known to speak both Hindi and Marathi. The shelter home has also reached out to the parents and relatives of the missing minors, but their whereabouts remain unknown.
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This is not the first time a girl has gone missing from the Panvel shelter. In August 2022, a 14-year-old rape victim had disappeared while being taken for a child welfare committee hearing, though she was later rescued a few days later.
