Janakpurdham, September 15
Police have safely rescued a 15-month-old boy who had gone missing from Tinkoriya, Ward 6 of Bideha Municipality, Dhanusha, 11 days ago. A woman has been arrested on charges of kidnapping the child.
According to district police spokesperson Om Prakash Khanal, Sidhanta Mahato, son of Kamlesh Mahato, went missing while playing in his own courtyard around 4:40 p.m. on September 3. Police were mobilised immediately from the Giddha police post, and a 60-member team under Superintendent Rupesh Khadka later joined the search across the area, with the help of trained tracking dogs.
Investigators, a joint team led by Deputy Superintendent Khanal and Provincial Information Analysis and Investigation officer Babindra Nembang, determined that the boy had been abducted by Punita Devi Paswan, around 41, of Kamala Municipality-9, Hathalatwa.
Preliminary findings suggested she had repeatedly moved and hidden the child at various locations in both Nepal and India. Police then intensified round-the-clock monitoring at all border checkpoints in Dhanusha and stepped up technical investigation to track her down.
Once police closed in, the woman left the child by the roadside about 300 meters south of her home around 3:35 p.m. on September 14, before fleeing. Police recovered the boy immediately, had him medically examined, and handed him over to his family; his condition is reported as normal.
Paswan was later caught the same evening around 3:45 p.m. while attempting to flee toward India, near the Dashgaja border area in Mahinathpur, Ward 1 of Bideha Municipality. She is under investigation on charges of kidnapping, unlawful confinement, and human trafficking and transportation, according to the District Police Office, Dhanusha.
