Hyderabad: Thirteen-year-old Kanukuntla Vasista Krishna boarded a TSRTC bus in Peddapalli on Wednesday, December 27, to return to Karimnagar, where she was enrolled in a boarding school. Carrying nothing except her Aadhaar card, she spent the next few days travelling in TSRTC buses for free to avoid going back to her hostel.
Her adventure not only had her family worried but also captivated the social media after posts about her going missing starting going viral. However, she kept hopping on TSRTC buses, which offer free travel for women.
The girl was visiting her grandfather in Peddapalli. When her vacation was over, her grandfather took her to the bus station and informed Vasista’s father Narsimham that she had boarded the bus. He also shared the bus number with the girl’s father.
The girl was meant to get off the bus at the Mancherial crossroads in Karimnagar. When her father reached the spot and waited for the bus. The bus arrived, but the girl did not. Her father asked the bus conductor where she was and he told him that she had deboarded on the by-pass road.
Using her Aadhaar card, the girl traveled through Jagtial, Nizamabad, Siddipet, Kamareddy, and Hyderabad in the course of 36 hours.
It was learned that the girl had taken non-stop RTC buses to avoid telling going back to her hostel in Karimnagar. As her missing photo went viral on social media, alerting the police, she was eventually located.
On Friday, December 29, her whereabouts were discovered at the Jubilee Bus Station in Secunderabad.
Speaking to the media, Karimnagar (rural) assistant commissioner of police T Karunakar Rao and circle inspector (CI) A Pradeep Kumar announced that following a 36-hour search, the girl was found and reunited with her family.
He expressed gratitude to the public for spreading the word about the girl’s disappearance by posting her picture on social media. He said that four police units had been sent out to find the girl.
The CI advised parents to interact with their children in a kind manner, stressing the importance of open communication in averting potential mental health issues among young people.
