“Who would do such a thing?” was the main question being asked as news broke of a 12-year-old girl found tied up early Wednesday morning (see related article). An investigation hopefully will provide the answer, because this type of apparent abuse against children obviously cannot be tolerated under any circumstances.
The primary school pupil reportedly had disappeared for six hours. Her story about how she got into the situation in which she was encountered should provide an indication whether there was foul play and – if that’s the case – the possible identity of the culprit(s).
Running away from home is certainly not uncommon among the youth, but they usually return or are tracked down by loved ones relatively quickly. During the time in between, however, these youngsters can be extremely vulnerable also due to the state of anger they tend to be in.
Credit the police for starting their search immediately and not waiting the normal period in missing adult person cases. Ultimately the girl was found by her stepfather, thankfully unhurt and in good health.
All’s well that ends well, some might say, but law enforcement authorities still need to take the matter seriously and get to the bottom of it in the best interest of the child, for her family’s peace of mind and on behalf of the community at large. After all, leaving the impression that one can easily get away with something like this would not send the best of messages.
