A girl and her brother, who were under the care of their relatives after their parents died in an accident, have run away from their home in Saidapet.
According to the police, the siblings — Deepika (13) and Veeramani (11) — are the oldest and youngest of the three children of Sakthivel, a resident of Saidapet. A few years ago, he and his wife died in an accident, following which the two along with their brother Nagaraj (12) were taken under the care of their mother’s sister Parvathy and her husband Murugan. They were living in the couple’s house on Tirurvalluvar Street, Saidapet.
Deepika and Veeramani were very close to each other, the police said.
“Murugan was strict in their upbringing and we suspect that Deepika might have not liked it. They must have missed their parents a lot,” said sub-inspector Bagyaraj, attached to the Kumaran Nagar police who are investigating the case.
On September 25, Parvathy and her husband left for work and the children were alone at home. “Deepika and Veeramani were planning to run away but their brother sniffed out their plan. When he asked Deepika about it, she gave him a rupee and asked him to go to a shop and buy chewing gum,” said Mr. Bagyaraj.
When Nagaraj left for a nearby shop, Deepika and Veeramani slipped out of the house. “When Parvathy returned from work, she found the two children missing and Nagaraj told her what had happened,” said Mr. Bagyaraj.
She and her husband visited the houses of all their relatives and friends, but could not trace the children. Parvathy then lodged a complaint with the Kumaran Nagar police on September 27.
“During the course of investigation, we found a number written down on a piece of paper at the couple’s house and we suspected it might have been a contact number noted down by Deepika. But it turned out to be a DVD rental shop’s number that was noted by Deepika when Parvathy was not at home,” said the police officer.
The police have sent the children’s pictures to all the police stations.
“We will be circulating it at all the bus termini and railway stations too,” said Bagyaraj. The police have requested that any member of the public who finds the children contact the Kumaran Nagar police station at 23452629.
