A Mother's Worst Nightmare at Mumbai Station
For six long months, a Mumbai mother endured unimaginable torment, losing sleep and appetite after her four-year-old daughter vanished from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus on May 20, 2025. The tragedy unfolded in a moment of exhaustion when the mother, holding her child in her lap, briefly closed her eyes. When she opened them, her daughter had disappeared into the crowded station.
The Relentless Search Across States
The devastated mother embarked on a desperate search mission, scouring slums, shelters, railway platforms, footpaths, and hospitals across the city. She carried a torn photograph of her daughter, showing it to strangers, police officers, and even beggars, hoping for any clue about her missing child.
After fifteen days without progress, retired Mumbai Police constable Rajesh Pandey took charge of the case. Drawing from his extensive experience in missing children and human trafficking investigations, Pandey began tracing the child's movement through CCTV footage that stretched from Dadar to Manduadih in Varanasi.
The family had originally traveled to Mumbai from Solapur for the father's medical treatment. On that fateful night at CSMT, young Aarohi was wearing a light-pink frock when she fell asleep in her mother's lap. CCTV footage later revealed a man luring the child away and disappearing into the crowds, with the suspect remaining at large throughout the investigation.
The Breakthrough and Emotional Reunion
Mumbai Police investigators discovered the kidnapper had boarded a train from Lokmanya Tilak Terminus to Banaras, expanding their operation across multiple states. Police teams meticulously reviewed surveillance footage at LTT, Dadar, Kurla, Bhusawal, Itarsi, Jabalpur, Prayagraj, Varanasi Junction, and Manduadih stations.
The investigation teams split and regrouped repeatedly, studying the footage hundreds of times searching for any possible clue. In June, a team sent to Varanasi returned empty-handed, hitting a dead end in their search.
The breakthrough finally came on November 13, when a local journalist noticed a missing child poster at Varanasi railway station. He recalled hearing a child speaking Marathi at a local orphanage and immediately alerted the authorities.
The next morning, Mumbai police officers conducted a video call and confirmed they had found Aarohi, still wearing the same pink frock from her disappearance. Her parents were overcome with emotion upon seeing their daughter after six months of anguish.
On November 14, the Mumbai Crime Branch prepared a heartwarming welcome at the airport, complete with balloons and a new turquoise frock for Aarohi. When the young girl saw the officers lined up to greet her, she spontaneously ran into their arms as if recognizing her rescuers.
Police have circulated the suspect's picture to stations nationwide. Authorities believe the kidnapper, having learned he was being hunted, abandoned Aarohi at Manduadih railway station. She was later found by the Government Railway Police and sent to the Lahurabir orphanage in Varanasi.
