Navi Mumbai Police Tracks Down Woman, 'Missing For 3 Years', Through Facebook

Navi Mumbai, Aug 18: The anti-human trafficking cell of the Navi Mumbai police has tracked down a woman who went missing three years ago from an ashram in Kharghar.

The 20-year-old, who was a minor when her missing complaint was registered in April 2015, was found in Bandra, where she has been employed by an NGO.

Sanjay Kshirsagar, sub-inspector of the anti-human trafficking cell, told reporters that the woman was traced through Facebook. On the social media platform, her image was spotted by the probing officials. On technical analysis of the details available, her location was found to be Bandra, the police official added.

Kshirsagar said they had earlier predicted the woman to be forced into "immoral business" as no details of her whereabouts had come to the fore over the last 36 months.

The officer said his team met the woman in Bandra and interrogated the reason behind her leaving the ashram in 2015. The police decided not to bring her back to the ashram as she claimed to have left the place three years ago on her accord as "she was not happy there".

Since the woman is 20-year-old now, Kshirsagar added, the law allows her to chart out her own future. If she does not want to return to the ashram, the police cannot force her to come back, he said.

In the three-year period when she was considered to be missing, the woman had spent two years in Delhi where she was working with a private firm. Last year, she returned to Mumbai after being offered a job with an NGO.

With the woman being traced, the Navi Mumbai is not only closing the case, but also dismissing the kidnapping case registered by the ashram.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 18, 2018 02:42 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).