Mumbai: A 17-year-old specially-abled girl has gone missing from the Mankhurd Mentally Deficient Children’s Home. The police said that 45 girls from the facility had gone to their special school in a nearby compound on Wednesday. When the security guard brought them back, one of them was missing. On the same day, another 23-year-old specially-abled man from the same institution went missing and it is suspected that both took the step together.
Orphan girl had joined the facility in 2019
The facility’s in-charge approached the Trombay police on Wednesday night with the complaint. After the security guard raised an alert, searches were conducted in Govandi, Mankhurd, Cheeta Camp and Chembur. Parallelly, a search was conducted for missing people in the group comprising boys and men. A case was registered on the same day under sections of kidnapping as the girl is a minor, the police said.
The missing girl joined the facility in 2019 as she is an orphan and doesn’t have guardians to look after her, the police said. The facility, run by the Children’s Aid Society, caters to 150 boys and 115 girls who are physically or mentally disabled. While the facility has 11 women security personnel for the girl’s section, they work in three different shifts. Sources revealed that the number is not enough, given the children needed to move from the facility to schools for education, and to hospital for medical checks and treatment. The search operation for the girl is underway, the police said.
Last week, a 12-year-old specially-abled boy had gone missing but was brought back within 10 hours.
