A minor girl who went missing from South Tripura district on October 19 was rescued from Nepal and a 35-year-old man accused of abducting her was arrested, the police said in Agartala on Tuesday.
Tripura Police and other Indian authorities coordinated with their Nepal counterparts and rescued the girl from the man’s stepmother in Tulsipur village of Dong district of the neighbouring country on November 9 and safely returned her to her parents, officials said.
The police said the man, Krishna Thakur, a resident of Assam’s Kokrajhar district, was arrested on Monday. He was booked on charges under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.
Speaking to reporters, Sub-Divisional Police Officer Nityanand Sarkar said the investigation was led by South Tripura Superintendent of Police M Krishna, Assistant Superintendent of Police Vishal Kumar, and sleuths from other security agencies. They learnt from tracking the girl’s mobile phone location that she had been taken to Nepal, according to officials.
The Government has been focusing on preventing child marriages and crimes against women as one of its major thrust areas since it came to power in 2018. However, 140 rape cases have been registered so far this year in the state.
Citing National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data, Chief Minister Manik Saha has said that Tripura saw a 19.3 per cent decline in overall crimes last year and ranks third-lowest among the 28 states in crime rates. He has also said that crimes against women have come down by 55 per cent.
