Mumbai girl lost and found after 9 years of staying kidnapped

While Pooja's mother is ecstatic to have been reunited with her long-lost daughter, she also demands justice for the ordeals her family has faced. She claims her husband died because of the stress the entire incident gave him. "My husband would have been alive today had they (accused) not taken away my daughter like that," she said.

Mumbai: In a miraculous reunion after nine years of being missing from her home, a 16-year-old girl from Mumbai returned to her family -- courtesy a woman domestic help and her vigilance. The girl, identified as Pooja Gaud, had gone missing from her home on January 22 in 2013, following a vigorous but vile search operation launched by the local police officials.

The girl was kidnapped by a couple that lived in the vicinity of her original house when she was seven years old. "The (kidnapping) incident had occurred when Pooja was on her way to school with her elder brother, who was then studying in Class 4. He was walking ahead of her. But after some time, when he turned back, he did not find her," a police official informed.

Pooja's brother soon narrated the incident to his parents, after which the family approached the D N Nagar police station. A missing person's report was registered in the matter along with search operations with her photographs and posters circulated all over the area.

Assistant Sub-Inspector Rajesh Bhosale had taken the matter to heart. The 65-year-old always carried a photograph of the girl in his pocket, in hopes of getting some clue about her whereabouts. When the search did not bear any results, the probing officials as well as Pooja's family had lost all hopes.

But nine years down the line, a woman who works as a house help in the Juhu area of Mumbai, met a young girl who had also recently started working as house help in the same area. 35-year-old Pramila Devendra soon became friends with this young girl. The girl narrated her ordeals about being harassed by her family at home. Eventually, she also told Pramila that her parents are not her real parents. Pramila took matters into her own hands and decided to do something for young Pooja.

"During their conversation, Pooja once told her that she was being harassed by her family members, who were not her original parents. She told her that she had been kidnapped. Pramila then searched on the internet whether any news report about her missing case had appeared anywhere. During the search, she came across the stories and articles about Pooja, following which she informed the D N Nagar police station about her case," the police official said.

The police thereafter got back into action and re-opened the case that barely had any hopes left of getting solved. Milind Khurde, the senior inspector of D N Nagar police station, launched an enquiry into the matter based on inputs from Pramila and verified that Pooja is the same girl who had gone missing 9 years ago.

Harry D'Souza and his wife, with whom Pooja was staying for the last nine years were taken into custody and interrogated in the matter. "During their questioning, it came to light that D'Souza had kidnapped Pooja as the couple did not have a child. After the kidnapping, he had sent her to Karnataka for some time before bringing her back to Mumbai," he said, clarifying why the search operation back in 2013 had not borne any results.

While Pooja's mother is ecstatic to have been reunited with her long-lost daughter, she also demands justice for the ordeals her family has faced. She claims that her husband died because of the stress the entire incident gave him. "My husband would have been alive today had they (accused) not taken away my daughter like that. They should be strictly punished, nobody should ever dare to make anyone go through such kind of trouble and agony again," Pooja's mother said, adding that she is thankful to have found her daughter but the sorrow of her husband's death remains intact.

The D N Nagar police have registered a first information report (FIR) against D'Souza and his wife Soni, both residents of Juhu Galli, under sections 363 (kidnapping), 365 ( intent for abduction), 368 (wrongful confinement ), 370 ( trafficking) and 374 (unlawfully compelling a person for labour) of the Indian Penal Code, he said. D'Souza was placed under arrest late Thursday night and sent to police custody till August 10, he said.

On Friday, the girl was reunited with her family members - her mother Poonam and 19-year-old brother Rohit - who stays just a kilometre away from the D'Souza family lived, police said. "Their reunion was a very emotional moment for us as we were able to reunite the missing girl with her family," inspector Khurde said.