Missing teenaged girl traced at Bhatkal

Mangaluru, Mar 6 (PTI): A 17 year-old girl from Panemangalore at nearby Bantwal, who had gone missing since March 2, was traced at Bhatkal with her lover the next day, police said. The girl had disappeared from a hospital at nearby Thumbay, where her mother had been admitted for treatment. The family registered a missing complaint with police as she did not come back to the hospital that day. The girl, who was living with her mother at home after completing her SSLC, had fled with her lover, a tempo driver belonging to Bhatkal, police said today Police on receiving specific information, went to Bhatkal and traced the girl on March 3 itself. She had been brought back and accommodated in the child counseling centre in the city, they said. The man was charged with kidnap, produced before a court and remanded to judicial custody, the sources said. This is published unedited from the PTI feed.