A 16-year-old teenager from Mayiladuthurai district in Tamil Nadu went missing on August 6 from her house. Based on a complaint filed by her parents at the Mayiladuthurai All Women Police Station, a task force was formed to track down the whereabouts of the child. The police have now arrested a 21-year-old man from Arakkonam for allegedly kidnapping the 16-year-old.
Speaking to TNM, Inspector R Goperundevi from Mayiladuthurai All Women Police Station says, “The girl got acquainted with the man named Sanjay Kumar about six months ago on TikTok and they have exchanged phone numbers on the app where she was spending a lot of time, according to her parents. They have been in touch over the phone since then and the man has used the information she had given him to go to her house and take her away with him.”
Based on the information given by those in the area, the police were able to deduce that two men had come to the girl's house in Mayiladuthurai from Arakkonam. On August 10, the police rescued the girl who has now been sent back home. The accused, a daily wage labourer, has been arrested and sent to Mayiladuthurai sub-jail. “We have filed kidnapping case against him. Based on medical examination, Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) will be added,” the Inspector shares. Police are on the look out to trace Sanjay Kumar’s accomplice in this case.
TikTok, a viral video content creation platform, was banned in India on June 29 this year, along with several other Chinese apps. Since then, several TikTok users, some with a huge fan following, have moved to other platforms. The app has had its fair share of stories from separated family members finding each other to Wildlife crime department tracking down criminals who hunted animals and posted videos on the app, boasting their fete.