Swedish teen travels to Mumbai to meet her social media friend, reunited with kin by cops

Mumbai, December 11

A 16-year-old Swedish girl, who had left her home and travelled to the Maharashtra capital to meet a 19-year-old man who had befriended her on social media, was traced and reunited with her parents, a crime branch official said on Saturday.

Unit-6 of the Mumbai crime branch had received a ‘Yellow Notice’ through their Interpol coordination cell about the missing Swedish girl, an official said.

It was also revealed that the teenage girl was in touch with her 19-year-old Instagram friend who lives in Mumbai, he said.

A missing complaint was registered in the case on November 27 at a police station in her home country on the complaint of her father, who has roots in India, he said.

Accordingly, the Mumbai crime branch launched the investigation and started tracking the online activities of her male friend.

With the help of technical details, the police zeroed in on the man, he said, adding that the youngster is a college student.

He disclosed that the girl was staying at Cheeta Camp in the Trombay area in the eastern suburbs, the official said.

Subsequently, officials of the crime branch took the girl in their custody and sent her to the children’s home at Dongri in south Mumbai, he said.

Meanwhile, the Swedish Embassy and Delhi Interpol office was informed about the developments in the case, he said.

The girl’s father and other family members reached Mumbai on Friday to take her back home.

After completing formalities, the girl was handed over to her father and they flew back to Sweden.

“The girl had come to India on a tourist visa. Since she had no complaint against her Instagram friend, no FIR was registered,” said DCP (Detection) Neelotpal. PTI