Cumilla Correspondent
Police have rescued four schoolgirls who went missing from Cumilla on October 12 from Chunarughat in Habiganj, with their disappearance reportedly linked to contacts made through social media.
The information was disclosed in a press release issued by the Cumilla Superintendent of Police’s office on Wednesday (October 14).
The rescued students are Maisha Akter (12), Jhumur (12) and Sonia (13), all Class V students of Cumilla Police Lines Government Primary School, and Maisha’s younger sister Jannat (8), a Class III student.
According to police, the school authorities noticed the students’ absence on the afternoon of October 12 and informed the Superintendent of Police. On his instructions, the District Detective Branch (DB) and Kotwali Police Station launched an investigation. The students’ families also filed general diaries (GDs) with the police.
Investigators examined CCTV footage from various locations and circulated the girls’ photographs and information to police stations across the country. With the assistance of Chunarughat Police Station in Habiganj, the girls were eventually rescued at around 2am on October 13.
Police said preliminary questioning revealed that the girls had been using social media and communicating with several people they had met online. They reportedly developed contacts and friendships with a number of young men through TikTok and other social media platforms.
According to the press release, the girls had left home intending to start new lives with people they had met online and become financially independent by earning their own money. They took valuable family belongings and mobile phones with them.
They first travelled to Dhaka with money obtained by selling an Android phone used by Maisha’s family for Tk 4,000 at Bahar Mobile Market in Cumilla. Unable to make the arrangements they had planned in Dhaka, they later decided to travel to Jhumur’s paternal grandfather’s house in Chunarughat, Habiganj.
Police further said the DB recovered the mobile phone sold by the girls, along with other gold ornaments, following the rescue operation.
The incident has highlighted concerns over children’s use of social media, their relationships with strangers online and their safety when travelling without their families’ knowledge. It has also underscored the importance of parental awareness of children’s online activities, friendly communication with them and stronger understanding within families. #EK