Bengaluru Teen Flees home After Parents Restrict Playtime, Found in Delhi
New Delhi: A 14-year-old boy from Bengaluru, reported missing after running away from home on November 30, was located in Delhi after a multi-city search, police confirmed Thursday. The teen fled due to restrictions placed on his playtime by his parents, despite consistently achieving high marks in school.
The boy, a Class 9 student at a private school in Bengaluru, was found by Delhi police after initially providing inconsistent information about his background. “He claimed he was in Class 8 and had taken up odd jobs to survive. His story didn’t add up as he couldn’t answer specific questions about his school or where he stayed in Chennai, wich made us beleive he wasn’t being honest,” an officer stated.
After hours of counseling, the boy revealed he was from Bengaluru and had left home on the evening of November 30.A check of missing person reports confirmed he had been reported missing to Bengaluru City police,who had registered a kidnapping case the same day.
Investigators determined the boy used his father’s phone to book a cab to the railway station and boarded a train to Hyderabad without a ticket.The phone was subsequently stolen and its battery died, rendering it untraceable. He then traveled by train from Hyderabad to Delhi, arriving on December 3, and instantly joined children playing in a park.
The boy explained to police that while he consistently scores above 90% in school, his parents pressured him to study even harder and forbade him from playing. “He said they pressure him to study even harder and score more. He felt restricted at home and wanted to come to Delhi to take up any job that would give him more time to play,” the officer said.
Delhi police produced the child before the Child Welfare Committee and contacted his father,a manager in a private company,who traveled to Delhi and took his son home with the CWC’s permission on Thursday. Police also counselled the father to allow the child more time for recreational activities.
