Moderate rain likely in city and suburbs today
The girl with her mother in Mumbai. Mohamed Thaver
On Saturday, the Gilbert Hill residence of the 16-year-old girl who was reunited with her family after nine years, was swarming with activity as mediapersons, local residents and relatives made a beeline to the Karnataka Milan Welfare society to catch a glimpse of “Girl no. 166”.
Such was the crowd that the girl’s family had whisked her away to an unknown location fearing that she may be harmed or injured. Her paternal uncle told The Sunday Express, “There was so much crowd that our lawyer told us to ensure that she was protected. We then moved her away to another location and will produce her whenever the police want to talk to her.” This was a day after the girl, just seven when she went missing on January 22, 2013, was reunited with her family. The 16-year-old was found living 500 m from her home in Andheri (West). Harry Joseph D’Souza and his wife Soni D’Souza had reportedly kidnapped her as they were desperate for a child. While Harry has been arrested, Soni has been called for questioning.
On Saturday, recounting the day of her kidnapping, the girl said the incident took place when her brother, who was walking ahead of her, had entered the school. “I was lured by (Harry) D’Souza on the pretext of getting an ice-cream. While he did buy me an ice-cream, he took me to Haji Malang in Kalyan. I kept crying, so he threatened to throw me off the hill. Initially they were good to me, but after they had a daughter in 2015, they would beat me up with a belt, rolling pin etc,” the girl said.