Kohima | September 13 : In a sensational case of ‘lost and found’, a 14 year old boy who had been missing for two months was found ‘living’ on the rooftop of a particular department. The unbelievable discovery was made when the head of the department on forgetting something, sent his driver back to the office to collect it.
The story goes that this 14year old boy ran away from home on the night of July 8, 2011. Reasons why he ran away from home is yet to be confirmed. The father while speaking to this reporter said that his son had been having academic problems in school which must have led to this action. The worried father filed a missing person report with the North Police Station on the 11th July and then began the massive hunt for the missing boy.
Advertisements were given in newspapers both in and outside the state. The Morung Express also carried the missing report on the 23rd April 2011. The hunt went as far as the neighboring states. The father even visited some underground camps believing that his son might have landed up in one camp or the other.
The mystery was finally solved when the boy was discovered on the 7th September at 7pm. He had been hiding and living in the roof of a government office. The boy’s mother reportedly works as a sweeper in the department and would sometimes take her son to help her around. This is how the boy discovered the small space between the ceiling and the tin roof. The night he ran, he stole the spare office key from his mother’s room and after ‘comfortably’ settling himself, returned the key in the darkness of the same night.
It was a strange routine for the poor boy who, would sleep by day and forage for food by night. Talking to this reporter, the head of the department informs that, the staff would hear strange noises coming from the ceiling but he had dismissed it saying it could be rats! Tell tale signs also began when edibles like milk and tealeaf started disappearing from the office kitchen. Apparently the boy would climb down from his ‘hideout’ and prepare some snacks from the office kitchen when the whole world was sleeping. However, people from the office testified that at no point of time any official paper went missing, except for the odd change in furniture arrangement on some mornings.
The misery of his parents was put to rest when the startled driver walked in on an equally startled boy. The irony of the story is that while the ‘almost crazy with worry ‘father had been traveling to every corner of the state, his boy had been living right under his nose (the residence of the boy and the office are in close proximity). The police for once, swung into action and the rest as they say is history. At the time of filing this report, the boy could not be contacted for comment as he was recovering from his ‘self imposed exile’.
The story goes that this 14year old boy ran away from home on the night of July 8, 2011. Reasons why he ran away from home is yet to be confirmed. The father while speaking to this reporter said that his son had been having academic problems in school which must have led to this action. The worried father filed a missing person report with the North Police Station on the 11th July and then began the massive hunt for the missing boy.
Advertisements were given in newspapers both in and outside the state. The Morung Express also carried the missing report on the 23rd April 2011. The hunt went as far as the neighboring states. The father even visited some underground camps believing that his son might have landed up in one camp or the other.
The mystery was finally solved when the boy was discovered on the 7th September at 7pm. He had been hiding and living in the roof of a government office. The boy’s mother reportedly works as a sweeper in the department and would sometimes take her son to help her around. This is how the boy discovered the small space between the ceiling and the tin roof. The night he ran, he stole the spare office key from his mother’s room and after ‘comfortably’ settling himself, returned the key in the darkness of the same night.
It was a strange routine for the poor boy who, would sleep by day and forage for food by night. Talking to this reporter, the head of the department informs that, the staff would hear strange noises coming from the ceiling but he had dismissed it saying it could be rats! Tell tale signs also began when edibles like milk and tealeaf started disappearing from the office kitchen. Apparently the boy would climb down from his ‘hideout’ and prepare some snacks from the office kitchen when the whole world was sleeping. However, people from the office testified that at no point of time any official paper went missing, except for the odd change in furniture arrangement on some mornings.
The misery of his parents was put to rest when the startled driver walked in on an equally startled boy. The irony of the story is that while the ‘almost crazy with worry ‘father had been traveling to every corner of the state, his boy had been living right under his nose (the residence of the boy and the office are in close proximity). The police for once, swung into action and the rest as they say is history. At the time of filing this report, the boy could not be contacted for comment as he was recovering from his ‘self imposed exile’.
(Name of the boy and his parents have not been given to protect their identities)
