Teenaged girl remanded to Gujarat

Midnapore, June 15: A teenaged girl today left for Surat after a local court allowed the Gujarat police to take her back on remand as she was short of attaining the age of 18 by a few days at the time of fleeing here.

The girl had arrived at Belda in West Midnapore district to join her lover on May 29 this year when she was just short of attaining 18 years by a few days. The girl and Sheikh Sharukh, who hailed from Belda and was a tenant at her Surat house, had developed an affair.

But when it became public, Sheikh Sharukh who worked as a plumber was thrown out of work and evicted from their house two yars ago. They kept in touch with each other and the girl boarded a train from Surat to join Sheikh Sharukh at Belda.

When she reached Belda, Shahrukh's parents informed Belda police station as she was a minor and she was lodged at Vidyasagar Balika Bhavan here . Meanwhile the girl's father filed a complaint with the Limbayet police station in Gujarat on charges of kidnapping following which a Gujarat police team came to Belda and sought her transit remand on June 6 last.

The CJM gave a four-day remand but when her attention was drawn to the fact a lady constable was not accompanying the Gujarat team, she directed them to come back with a lady constable for escorting the girl to Gujrat.

The Gujarat police team returned to Belda with a lady constable and sought her remand again. Meanwhile, the girl attained 18-yr and pleaded that she was no more a minor and had come here on her own.

CJM Manjushree Mandal said in her order on Monday that since she was a minor at the time the case was filed, the 4-day remand has to be executed. Upon reaching her hometown, she can give a deposition to the magistrate that she has become an adult and it was a matter of her personal choice following which the law will take its own course, the court said.

PTI