Welfare committee helps locate teenager’s family

The family of a teenager was spotted after 18 months through the ‘lost and found’ portal.

The Child Welfare Committee (CWC) and the employees of Vivek Ashram Sriganganagar were able to locate the family of a 16-year-old boy who was provided shelter in the Ashram in Mohanpura village.

The teenager had been missing since February 20, 2023 and his family had lodged a missing report at the Ghaziabad police station in Uttar Pradesh. The Ghaziabad police were not able to trace the boy.

CWC president Joginder Kaushik, said after the death of his parents, the teenager went missing as he was not stable mentally. He said the boy had reached Sriganganagar.

Kaushik said on February 20, 2023, Rajesh Sihag, the then incharge of the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit (AHTU) in Sriganganagar, found the boy roaming and presented him before the CWC and got him shelter in Vivek Ashram.

He said since then, the team of the Child Rights Department and Ashram has been trying to find his family. He added that the teenager was also taken to the Aadhaar Card Seva Kendra; however, they could not issue a card for him. He said in such a situation, the team faced a lot of difficulty in finding the boy’s family.

Kaushik said during counselling, the boy said his parents used to sell flowers, adding that he has a brother who was also involved in the same business. He said the boy was not able to say more than that.

Kaushik said he showed the boy’s picture to local flower sellers, but he could not find any clues. He said the boy’s photograph was uploaded to the ‘lost and found’ portal and through that some information surfaced.

He said they searched for the boy’s family and his brother’s mobile number was traced from the Ghaziabad police station. Kaushik said the brother’s boy was informed the teenager was in Sriganganagar. He said the boy’s brother was not in a position to reach Sriganganagar due to a slump in his business.

Kaushik said the Child Welfare Committee in Ghaziabad was contacted and requested to arrange to re-unite the boy with his family.

Assistant Sub-Inspector Kamal Singh accompanied the teenager to Ghaziabad, where he was handed over to the family yesterday.