Surat: A 15-year-old student staying in the hostel of a prominent school in the Utran police station area was handed over to a 25-year-old man who falsely claimed to be her guardian.The incident occurred on Sunday morning after the man informed hostel authorities that the girl’s grandfather had died and that she needed to return home immediately.Utran police have booked the man on charges of abduction and sexual harassment under BNS and Pocso.According to police, the girl was residing in the school hostel located on the same campus. On Sunday morning, the accused called the hostel staff and conveyed news of her grandfather’s death, asking them to send her to the hostel gate. Around 8am, the girl was handed over to the man, reportedly without proper verification of his identity or guardianship.In the evening, when the girl failed to return to the hostel, staff members contacted her parents, who said they had not received her. The parents also clarified that no death had occurred in the family. During their search, the parents learnt that the man, who was known to the girl, was also untraceable. They subsequently approached the police and lodged an abduction complaint at Utran police station.Meanwhile, the man dropped the girl back at the hostel on Monday morning after police and family members intensified the search.“Based on the girl’s statement, she went with the accused and spent the night in a garden in Bardoli. She has denied any untoward incident. However, she was sent for medical examination and we are searching for the accused, who is currently absconding,” said a Utran police officer.When contacted by TOI, the school management claimed that proper procedure had been followed while handing over the girl. “The girl herself had given the accused’s phone number as that of her guardian to the hostel authorities, so we assumed he was her guardian. In the evening, we learnt from her friend that she had not gone with her parents. We later informed the parents to take back the girl, as she had violated hostel rules,” a management official said.
