Ahmedabad, August 02: Three days ago a 17-year-old girl alighted from a bus at Gita Mandir terminus. She was clutching a small bag. Her eyes reflected a strange dilemma and fear. It was clear that she was not sure where to go.
A good Samaritan, Savita Patel, a resident of Nehrunagar, saw the girl and realized something was amiss. When Patel asked her where she wanted to go, the girl wouldn’t reply. Not wishing to leave a minor girl at the bus stop, the woman took her home. For two days the girl refused to say anything about her family.
Finally, on Sunday, the girl opened up and told her tale of woes to Patel. Her father is a doctor in Vadodara. A couple of years back, her parents divorced and her mother married a second time. However, her step father was not willing to take charge of the young girl. Her father too married again and the girl was faced with another problem. “She claims that her step mother began harassing her,” said Vastrapur police.
The girl claims that constant domestic troubles made her flee from home. She had borrowed some money from her neighbour and headed for Ahmedabad. “Her story checks out so far since she does not carry any valuables or money with her,” said Vastrapur police.
Patel then called up her father and informed him about his daughter’s whereabouts. The doctor, however, reacted strangely. The girl’s father claimed that the minor had married without his consent and he did not want any association with her. The girl, on the other hand, denies having married.
“She says that if she was married she would have been with her husband. And, she also is quite adamant on not returning to her home in Vadodara,” said Vastrapur police.
Patel finally informed the city police on Sunday. Vastrapur police officials later reached her residence and took custody of the girl. “Since she is a minor, she has been handed over to the destitute women’s home in Paldi,” said Vastrapur police inspector B R Gamit.
Gamit added: “We are yet unable to ascertain whether the parent is speaking the truth or the girl. We have called her father and mother for questioning.”
–Agencies