Revealed: How 6-year-old Abigail Sara, who was kidnapped in Kollam, was found
Kerala: Six-year-old Abigail Sara was found abandoned on the Ashramam Maidanam in Kollam on Tuesday (Nov 28). She was identified by the locals with the help of photographs circulated on social media.
FollowKollam: Abigail Sara, the six-year-old who was abducted, was found at the Ashramam Maidanam in Kollam on Tuesday (Nov 28), which is a huge relief for the people of Kerala. It was the locals who located the girl, that the accused had left behind on the premises of the Ashramam, after a 22-hour search. The photos that went viral on social media, according to the locals, made it easier for them to identify the child. The toddler, who had been starving for hours, was soon given water and biscuits. The place is just 25 kilometres from her native Oyoor.
She was first identified by the students of SN College in Kollam. Abigail was wearing a mask so that the locals won't recognise her. According to the locals and students, when they first saw the child, she was accompanied by a woman. Initially, they did not have any suspicion. As soon as the child was settled into the seat, the woman turned away and walked away. The woman reportedly claimed to the students that she would phone the child's father before leaving. As a result, the suspicious SN College students began examining Abigail's photos on their phones. After examining the images circulating on social media and in the media, they took off the mask and it was evident that the kid was Abigail Sara.
Soon the students of SN College alerted the police. Along with the students of the college, the locals also reached here and made the necessary intervention. Before identifying the child, one of the locals had seen the woman with the child in the Ashramam Maidanam.
Eyewitnesses said the gang tried to enter the Income Tax quarters before. A group of two men and one woman arrived with the child. They tried to enter the income tax quarters near the Ashramam Maidanam, however, they were stopped by the security personnel. A verbal altercation ensued. It was only after this that the criminals left the child in the Maidanam and fled the scene
The kidnappers abandoned the child on the grounds of Ashramam and fled the spot, allegedly succumbing to the intense pressure piled on through media coverage and police investigation. Abigail Sara Reji, hailing from Oyoor, was abducted from Pooyappally in southern Kerala a day ago at 4:30 pm while she was going to tuition classes along with her eight-year-old brother. The police intensified checks in the nearby districts too.
The child will be taken for a medical examination and according to the police, the health condition of the child is satisfactory.
The accused may have known that they had no choice but to leave the child behind as the police began their state-wide search for them. To find Abigail, a statewide search was conducted with the same fervour as if it were for her own daughter.
The kidnappers, suspected to be four in number including a woman, came in a white car and abducted the girl at about 4.30 pm. When her brother tried to stop the abductors, they pushed him aside and whisked away the girl in the car, an officer from the Pooyappally police station had said on Monday.
