An 18-year-old labourer, infatuated with a 15-year-old girl, allegedly kidnapped her along with her two younger sisters after she refused to elope with him. Given the seriousness of the case, Malwani police sprang into action and arrested the accused within 12 hours, rescued the three girls, and reunited them with their family.

The arrested individuals have been identified as Hasnat Reza Jamshed Alam, 18, and Mohammad Abdulkalam Rahsuddin Shaikh, 18, both labourers from Bihar. The kidnapped girls, aged 15, 7, and 11 months, lived with their mother in the Kharodi area of Marve Road. The mother, who works at a bar, usually leaves the children in the care of her younger sister. However, last week, the sister had returned to their native village, forcing the mother to lock the house from the outside while she was at work, leaving the children alone inside.

Alam admitted he was in love with the 15-year-old and wanted to marry her. Representation pic/iSTOCK