Student kidnapped for gold earrings,released

After the incident,the school administration has decided to call regular meetings of parents,teachers and rickshaw drivers for better coordination.

Rickshaw driver Madhukar Patil takes class II student Gauri Pachkude to her residence at Tadiwala Road,along with four other students,including her cousin Vijay from the same class. After finding Gauri missing,Patil went inside the school and enquired about her. Vijay then told him that a woman had taken Gauri away. Presuming that the woman was someone from the family,he dropped the other four and went to Gauri’s home where he came to know that she had not returned. Patil along with Gauri’s parents and school staff filed a complaint at Samarth police station.

Vijay later said that a woman had asked Gauri to go along with her saying she wanted some help in getting her daughter admitted to the school. She later took Gauri to a nearby park and allegedly snatched away two gold earrings weighing three grams each. The girl was spotted by some citizens crying alone near KEM Hospital at 2.30 pm. The woman is yet to be arrested.

Police inspector AV Jagtap,who is investigating the case,said,“After receiving a complaint from the parents we fanned the area. The possibility that woman already knew Gauri cannot be ruled out.”

The school staff was in a fix after coming to know about the abduction. School principal Kunda Talhar said,“We will appeal to the parents,teachers,students and rickshaw drivers to be more vigilant. A meeting will soon be called for a better coordination.”

Talhar added,“We strongly discourage students wearing gold or other precious ornaments. We will ask parents not to make students wear jewellery or carry cell phones etc.” Gauri’s parents were not available for comment.

One of the parents of a student,on condition of anonymity,said “There has to be some security arrangement outside school. We need to have a proper plan to avoid such incidents in future.”