Claims she was abused by her cousin; later, retracts statement Chandigarh, September 16 A 15-year-old girl, who had eloped from her house in Gorakhpur, arrived by a train at the Chandigarh railway station late last night. As the girl was alone and appeared to be scared, the General Railway Police (GRP) team, which found her, handed her over to the Childline1098 team. After counselling by a woman counsellor and team members, the teenage girl shared her family details. She informed the Childline team that the main reason of her running away from home was that she was allegedly being abused by her cousin. Later, she retracted statement. The girl was lodged at the Girls’ Home in Chandigarh after a DDR was registered with the GRP and other formalities were completed. After this, the Childline approached the Gorakhpur police to find out whether missing report of any girl child was filed with the police. The Gorakhpur police told the Childline team that there was a complaint of a 15-year-old girl gone missing. The Childline team also talked to girl’s parents to get more information about her. However, when the team asked about girl being abused by her cousin, her parents refuted the statement. Childline project director Sangeeta Jund said during preliminary investigation the girl claimed that she was allegedly abused sexually. When they counselled her she changed her statement and informed that she had run away from her home, Sangeeta said. On checking her baggage it appeared that she had eloped from her home with some boy, who might have assured her of marriage, Sangeeta added. Actual cause of her eloping would only be known after meeting the girl’s parents, who would be arriving in a day or two, Sangeeta said. Initially, the girl was not ready to return home, but after counselling and apprising her of safety, the girl agreed to return home, Sangeeta added. Childline director, Lt-Col (retd) Ravi Bedi, said, “We are thankful for the personal interest taken by station director Hari Deep Kumar and the Railway staff at Chandigarh. With their efforts such children are rescued and do not fall into wrong hands.”

Stay updated with all the Chandigarh Latest News headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.