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19 March 2024

CCTV helps find missing girl in Sharjah

Eight-year old Malavika who went missing and was found in a Sharjah mall on Saturday and (below) the WhatsApp message in Malayalam language about the disappearance of the child.

Published
By V M Sathish

An Indian family in Sharjah heaved a sigh of relief after their eight-year old daughter who went missing from their apartment in Al Musalla on Saturday evening was found in a textile showroom in Rolla five hours later.

Malavika, a third grade student of Our Own School, Sharjah, was at home with her father and a younger child, when she disappeared suddenly, causing the father and other residents to panic.

“I came back from work in Ras Al Khaimah and was sleeping with the younger child who was not feeling well. My wife left for work in a lab in the evening and the girl also went out. I thought she is playing in the house or with her friend on the seventh floor of the building,” said the father Sham Lal, who had recently shifted house from Ras Al Khaimah to Al Amal Yousuf Building in the Musalla area of Sharjah. Malavika was at home on Saturday as it was a school holiday.

“We are thankful to the community members, residents and others who joined our search for Malavika. We have already picked her up from the Joy Alukkas Wedding Centre area at 10.30 pm on Saturday and spread this news instead of forwarding the missing message again,” said the father of the girl.

“When my wife left for her second shift job in the evening at around 5.30pm, Malavika, too, went out. After coming back from work at noon, I was sleeping with the baby. When the water suppliers came and rang the doorbell, she opened the door,” said Sham Lal, who said later his daughter was not seen anywhere in the room.

“I thought she was playing with her friend on the seventh floor of the building. When I could not find her, I started searching for her everywhere in the building. Other residents also joined in and we made a formal police complaint that Malavika has been missing since 5.30pm.

“Meanwhile, members of the community living in the building and Rolla area went into action, spreading the missing girl’s picture and a ‘missing’ message through WhatsApp groups, Facebook and a Malayalam radio station.

“I heard many people say that the missing girl message had been forwarded to WhatsApp groups. A WhatsApp group in Rolla did a wonderful job in trying to locate my daughter,” Sham Lal added.

CCTV footages showed the girl going out of the building, entering an adjacent market, crossing the road, and walking through Al Majlis Restaurant, and by 6pm she was found entering the Rolla Market.

Cameras showed her move to Al Musalla Tower, enter the Al Maya Supermarket and go all the way to Joy Alukkas Wedding Centre in Rolla where she was hanging around.

“The missing message was forwarded in many WhatsApp and Facebook groups and even after we found her, people kept forwarding the message.  I thank the community and Sharjah Police for their help,” the father told Emirates 24|7.

“But please stop forwarding this WhatsApp message since we have already found Malavika,” Sham Lal appealed to the public.