Patna: The family of a first-semester student at Magadh Mahila College in Patna has appealed to police to trace her after she went missing on August 13 and has remained unaccounted for a week.
Gayatri Kumari’s relatives have lodged a complaint at Gandhi Maidan police station and said their search for her has so far yielded no information about her whereabouts.
According to the family, Gayatri left home for college on the morning of August 13. After attending college, she reportedly travelled towards the railway station in an e-rickshaw.
She did not return home by evening, prompting her family to begin searching for her. Her mobile phone had reportedly been left at home that day, leaving the family without a way to contact her.
Family raises questions over CCTV footage
The family said it approached Gandhi Maidan police station around midnight on the day she disappeared. According to relatives, police assured them that an investigation would be launched.
The family said police have examined CCTV cameras in the area but that footage from some of the periods when Gayatri was believed to have been travelling is unavailable.
Relatives have urged investigators to examine footage from all available cameras and reconstruct her movements before and after she disappeared.
They believe CCTV footage could provide important clues about her route from college towards the railway station.
Family links disappearance to earlier dispute
Gayatri’s sister, Durga Kumari, said the family had previously been involved in a dispute with some people in their village.
According to the family, people associated with the dispute later visited their home and allegedly threatened them, saying that if they approached the police, Gayatri would be abducted from the place where she had gone to study.
The family says Gayatri disappeared about eight days after the alleged threat.
Relatives also claim that one of the people involved in the earlier village dispute has been missing since the incident. These allegations have not been independently established and will need to be examined as part of the police investigation.
Family seeks wider investigation
Gayatri’s relatives have asked police to investigate every possible angle, including the alleged threats, the earlier village dispute and CCTV footage from the areas through which she may have travelled.
They said their immediate priority is to locate Gayatri and establish what happened after she left college on August 13.
The family has also questioned the lack of a concrete breakthrough after a week and urged investigators to intensify efforts to trace the student.
