4 schoolgirls go missing, traced within 24 hours

The girls, all hailing from Udayarpettai near Kumarapalayam, had gone out to buy notebooks from a nearby shop on Tuesday night.

As they did not return home for a long time, the parents and relatives went on a search and also lodged a complaint at the Kumaramalayam police station.

They told the police that the girls had informed them that they would visit a shop nearby but had not returned home for long.

The police formed a team and managed to trace the girls at a secluded location far away from the village.

Further inquiries revealed that the four girls who were studying in different classes in a government school had hid themselves in an unknown location on Tuesday night in the Kumarapalayam city limits.

They had then moved over to another secluded location on Wednesday.

The girls were produced before the district child welfare officer.

They are likely to be counselled by psychiatrists to know the exact reason behind why they decided to leave their homes.