The Vashi police have traced a 17-year-old boy who left his house in Nashik on December 28 as he was unable to cope with online classes amid the pandemic.
The police said the Class XII student left a note that he was leaving out of his own will and would end his life if anyone tried to find him. “He was a bright science student, but could not cope with classes going online. He was frustrated over his inability to meet high expectations,” senior police inspector Sanjeev Dhumal said.
The boy’s father is a cloth trader and his mother a homemaker. The police said the boy left with ₹6,000 and a SIM card. He hitched a ride on a truck to Airoli and then hailed an autorickshaw to Thane. He reached Vashi in another auto on December 30. “In between he stayed at a lodge. At Thane, he had bought a second-hand phone and activated his SIM card. He saw messages from his parents requesting him to return home. He then called his mother and told her not to look for him,” Assistant Police Inspector Sachin Dhage said.
The family informed the police and they traced his call. “We increased bandobast at Vashi creek. The mobile’s location kept changing from Sanpada to Vashi,” Mr. Dhumal said. Assistant Commissioner of Police Vinayak Vast and other staff found him near Vashi railway station. The police then reunited the boy with his parents.
