Shivamogga police traced a 20-year-old girl, who left the city allegedly after concocting a story of being kidnapped for ransom, to a private bus stand in Hubballi on May 16.
The girl is a native of Channagiri taluk in Davangere district in Karnataka. She was pursuing a physiotherapy course in a private college in Shivamogga. She went missing on Sunday (May 14) evening from her study home-cum-hostel in Shivamogga.
Later, her father received a message demanding a ransom of ₹20 lakh from her phone number. Based on a complaint filed by the girl’s father, Jayanagar police registered a case. Shivamogga Superintendent of Police G.K. Mithun Kumar formed special teams to trace the girl.
Before she went missing, the girl had drawn ₹5,000 from an ATM in Shivamogga. That prompted the police to suspect that it was not a case of kidnapping. They tracked her mobile phone, reached VRL bus stand in Hubballi, and brought her back to Shivamogga.
Girl was attracted to service rendered by nuns
In her statement to the police, the girl claimed that she had been attracted to the service rendered by nuns since her high school days at a Christian institute in Channagiri. After her PU, she wanted to take up medicine, but joined a physiotherapy course as she could not secure a medical seat.
During the course, she came into contact with Christian students from Kerala. On Sunday (May 14), she decided to travel to Mumbai and become a nun in a church there. She travelled to Hubbali via Thirthahalli - Sringeri - Bengaluru. In the meantime, she thought of ways to meet her financial needs after reaching Mumbai, and concocted the kidnapping story to obtain some money from her father.
The police took her statement. After counselling her, she was sent back to her home.
