The missing of a Class-6 student from Chiguru Children’s Home, a private home for children, is raising many questions.
Twelve-year-old B. Bharat Kumar, an orphan staying in the Nava Jeevan Bala Bhavan-run Chiguru Children’s Home on the banks of the river Krishna at Penumaka village in Guntur district, went missing on August 11, 2023.
“Bharat Kumar was rescued from Guntur railway station in April this year. We referred the boy to Chiguru Children’s Home, and he was admitted to a government school at Tadepalli,” said Guntur CWC chairperson G. Arogya Prameela.
“Around 8.30 a.m. on August 11, Bharat left for school and did not return. After searching in the vicinity, the home management alerted the CWC,” Ms. Prameela told The Hindu on Sunday.
Nava Jeevan Bala Bhavan, Vijayawada, executive director Fr. Ratna Kumar said the home management searched for the boy on the banks of river Krishna and in Penumaka, Vundavalli, Tadepalli and other villages.
Ms. Arogya Prameela said they lodged a complaint with the Tadepalli police and his details were uploaded onto the missing-children portal.
Tadepalli CI P. Seshagiri Rao said they searched for the boy in Hyderabad, Guntur, Vijayawada, Eluru and other places in both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
“As the boy had stated that his sister was staying at Eluru, the police tried to contact his relatives... We are searching for the boy,” Mr. Seshagiri Rao said.
Child-rights organisations appealed to the CWC and the police to alert the Indian Railways and the Crime Investigation Department (CID) and take measures to trace the boy.
