2 min readRanchiApr 10, 2026 03:33 AM IST
Hearing a case in connection with a minor girl having gone missing for eight months, the Jharkhand High Court on Thursday ordered the removal of the officer-in-charge of a police station and raised concern over alleged police action against members of the missing girl’s family despite an earlier order restraining such steps.
The case pertains to a girl missing since July 21, 2025, from Bokaro. The petitioner’s counsel said Vincent Rohit Marki, the girl’s mother, had approached police, saying her daughter did not return after leaving home to complete an online form submission. She went missing on July 21, and the mother approached police the same day, but an FIR was registered on August 4, the family’s counsel said.
The mother said “that same night, we went to the police station. However, police initially refused to register an FIR. They told us if we named someone and my daughter was not found with him, we could be jailed and may not get bail.” The family was even “threatened and discouraged” from filing the complaint. The FIR was registered on August 4 under charges of kidnapping by a local youth, whom the kin suspected due to an alleged past relationship with the girl.
In December 2025, the family received a phone call from a person, claiming the girl was in Pune. “He said it was a serious matter but assured that the girl would be brought back,” the mother said. A month later, police traced the caller, Loknath Mahato, and detained him from Bokaro, but he escaped from police custody. On April 7, the HC ordered that no coercive action should be taken against the petitioner or her kin. However, the counsel alleged that despite this, another relative was picked up by police Thursday. The matter will be heard on April 15.
