From married woman to inter-student: Tirupati sees slew of missing cases in 5 days

Tirupati: At least four to five missing cases have been reported in the last five days under the Alipiri police station limits in Tirupati district. Those missing include a married woman, a class VIII student, and teenagers. According to the Tirupati police, many incidents of teens running away from their homes have been reported in the district.

Married woman missing after financial issues

A 28-year-old woman, Renuka, went missing on the afternoon of 31 May after she came to her parent's house in Tirupati. The parents filed a complaint under the Alipiri police station limits.

According to the police, Renuka married Maheshwar, a junior assistant in the education department in Nandyal, in 2019. He was addicted to gambling and cricket betting and had a debt of around Rs. 35 lakhs. He had even sold his wife's gold jewellery.

On 25 May, Renuka's father called Maheswar to discuss the matter. The latter returned to Nandyal after the talk while Renuka stayed back in Tirupati.

On 31 May, Maheswar came to Tirupati to arrange money to clear off his debts. At 1.30 p.m, CCTV footage shows Renuka coming out of the apartment. She did not return home. Hours later, her husband sent a message to his in-laws that read, "We can solve our problem, and the rest is left to God." The couple then switched off their phones.

Renuka's parents when they found that their daughter was missing started worrying that she might take some extreme measure. "We have sent a message through social media and WhatsApp groups to trace the woman and her husband," said the police.

Intermediate student missing

A 17-year-old intermediate student went missing in Satyanarayanapuram. She reportedly went missing after she went to a temple. However, the police found that her last location was Kakinada. According to them, she allegedly eloped with her classmate. They have sent teams to track down the girl.

Class 8 student runs away from home

A 14-year-old boy allegedly went missing from Chenna Reddy's colony when he went to buy ice cream. According to the boy's mother, he had been roaming around so she had prevented him from going out for the last 15 days. He took Rs. 600 from the house and said he would go out and get ice cream. He did not return home.

The police said the boy had run away from home two or three times earlier. He returned two days later after spending the money he had taken with him. Special teams have been formed and a WhatsApp message has been spread to find the boy.

Need for counselling

Speaking to News Meter, inspector T. Abbanna of Alipiri police station said, "Parents need to give proper counselling to their children. There are at least 10 missing cases and a majority of runaways are reported every month."

The inspector added, "We observed that mobile usage and lack of parents interacting with their children are some of the reasons for such incidents." He said there are incidents of women being troubled by their husbands due to financial issues or for dowry. He advised people to approach the police counselling cell or the Disha police to get help.