In January 2014, when 15-year-old Sagar Bhalerao, a resident of Airoli, wanted to go back to his native village of Mokkam in Ahmednagar’s Sangamner taluka for the annual fair, his parents sternly told him to concentrate on his studies. Frustrated and angry, Sagar ran away from home.
“His Board exams were round the corner, so we told him that if he doesn’t study, we’ll send him to our village for good. He became angry,” recalls Bhagwan Bhalerao (40), Sagar’s father, who works as a security guard. “Initially, we thought he had gone out in a huff and would return in a while, but he remained untraceable. We then lodged an FIR.” Sagar remained missing for three years.
During this period, the teenager supported himself by working as a waiter and kitchen help in dhabas in and around Nashik. Though he missed his family, he was afraid to contact them. Eventually, a homesick Sagar hit upon a compromise solution: Facebook.
A month ago, he created a fake Facebook profile under the name ‘Tanya Sen’ and send a friend request to a cousin who worked in the software sector. After a few chats, the cousin sensed something fishy. He asked ‘Tanya’ for her mobile number. When he saw the display picture of 'Tanya Sen’ on WhatsApp, he realised that it was his cousin who had ran away from home, and contacted Sagar’s parents.
The parents informed the police. “We traced the name and address of the person on whose name the mobile SIM was registered. It had been purchased by one Rudra Bhalerao, a resident of Umrane village in Nashik district,” Sunita Bhor, Anti-Human Trafficking Unit (AHTU), Navi Mumbai, said.
The AHTU team, along with Sagar's parents, went to Umrane village and found that it was Sagar who went by the name of Rudra Bhalerao. “His parents spotted him from a distance, and the boy and family were reunited,” Anand Chavan from the AHTU said.
“All these years, I wanted to come back but I was afraid. I am glad that the police traced me and now I’m back with my family,” said Sagar.
