India: Kidnapped 6-year-old Kerala girl found after 20 hours of frantic search

Thiruvananthapuram: A day after she was kidnapped allegedly for ransom, the six-year-old girl was found abandoned on a ground in the heart of the Kollam town, about 75km from the state capital, on Tuesday.

What has left baffled many is how could the kidnappers, who included a woman and three men, whisk away Abigail Sarah Regi in a car about 150 meters from her house. Also, how did they manage to keep the massive police force and people at bay for over 20 hours.

Visuals showed the girl seated on a policeman’s shoulders being taken to a hospital for a medical checkup.

As soon as the news broke, the girl’s family and relatives broke into jubilation with many of them seen wiping away tears of joy. A special prayer session was conducted as a thanksgiving.

Around 1.30pm, the locals at the ground noticed the girl sitting alone and there were no questions regarding her identity as her picture was out in public domain since 5pm on Monday.

Meanwhile, eyebrows are being raised as despite a massive search operation being launched, the kidnappers managed to drop the girl in the ground located in the heart of Kollam city.

According to police, the incident took place when the girl, along with her eight-year-old brother, was returning home from  tuition  on Monday at Oyoor near Kollam when a white car stopped beside them around 4.45pm on Monday.

Those inside got down, pushed the boy and sped away with the girl. At around 8.15pm, the girl’s mother received a call in a man’s voice assuring her that the girl is safe.

Soon, a woman came on line and demanded Rs500,000 as ransom for the release.

Later, after 10pm, the woman called again, raising the ransom money to Rs1 million and ensured that if they pay the money, the child will be dropped at her home at 10am. This call was followed by silence.

Police are confident of zeroing in on the kidnappers, local legislator Jayalal said.