Abducted minor returns home after 10 years, man held

An 11-year-old girl who was abducted from Gurugram in 2008 and "sold" to a man in Uttar Predesh has returned home after 10 long years. Her so-called maternal uncle has been attested on kidnapping and other charges, police said on Friday.

The girl was lured and kidnapped by Pushpender from her rented house here in Ram Vihar colony near Dhanwapur. The accused, Pushpender, hails from the victim's maternal village in Mainpuri district in Uttar Pradesh.

Police said the accused was a neighbour of the victim's family in 2008. After abducting the minor and living with her for a while, he abandoned her at the Etah bus stand in Uttar Pradesh, police said.

Santosh Kumar, another man who met the victim at the bus stand, assured her that she will be dropped at her home safely but a month after she was "sold" to a man, Ashok Tiwari.

Tiwari, hailing from Dahlia village near Agra, kept the minor forcefully as his wife without marrying her.

Police said the victim managed to escape with the help of a woman and reached her house a couple of days back and informed the police. She is now 21 years old.

Pushpender, now 36, was arrested from Noida and produced before a court on Friday. "We are grilling him. The other two accused will be arrested soon," a senior police officer said.

--IANS

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