In a shocking incident, a six-year-old girl, Abigail Sara Reji, was abducted around 4:45 pm on Monday from near her home at Oyoor in Kollam in Kollam district of Kerala. Abigail, a first standard student, was walking to a tuition center with her eight-year-old brother, Jonathan, when she was abducted. According to the child’s brother, the perpetrators were three men and one woman in a white sedan, who forcibly dragged her into the vehicle.
Jonathan, who managed to escape the clutches of the kidnappers, revealed that he and his sister were approached by assailants in the car. "They came in a car, gave me a paper asking to give it to my mother. I did not take it, and then they dragged her into the car. I hit them using a stick, but they did not let her go," he told the media.
Three hours after the abduction, Abigail's mother received a call demanding a ransom of Rs 5 lakh for her daughter's safe release. The police said that a combined operation by police units in the districts of Kollam, Pathanamthitta, and Thiruvananthapuram have been launched to trace the whereabouts of the child.
Minister J Chinchu Rani, expressing concern over the incident, stated, "Police units throughout the state have been put on alert to assist in the swift and safe recovery of the child."