MARGAO/VASCO: The minor girl who was allegedly raped by Congress Panjim by-poll candidate Atanasio (Babush) Monserrate, and was housed in a rehabilitation house in South Goa, suddenly left the house without informing anybody. Police have launched a hunt for the girl.

The survivor, who was a minor when she was allegedly raped, had earlier been lodged in Apna Ghar at Merces, however, after she turned a major she was transferred to a protective home from where she was undergoing a one year course in fashion designing.

Sources said that since the time she was staying in the protective home, she had packed her bags on four different occasions and told the other inmates that she was leaving the place and going back to Apna Ghar as she was unhappy at the protective home.

On April 27, 2019 the girl left the protective home and returned at 9.30 pm when she was dropped by a boy on a motorcycle. She went to her room and began packing her clothes and told the other inmates that she would be leaving for Apna Ghar the next day.

The next day being a Sunday, when the other inmates had gone to church, the girl left the house with two bags and disappeared from the house and didn’t return. The supervisors waited for one day thinking she would return the next day but as she failed to do so they filed a missing person complaint on April 29, 2019.

Meanwhile, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Mormugao, Sunita Sawant speaking to the media, said that police are leaving no stone unturned to find the missing girl. Sawant said a case under Section 365 of the IPC has been registered in this regard at Verna police station on May 10.

Sawant said that as per the investigation the girl had gone with her clothes and had earlier also left the home but had come back. She said, a missing complaint had been filed earlier and as per the directions of Supreme Court, police registered an offence of abduction under Section 365 of IPC as she may have been lured.

Sawant said police enquiries revealed that the girl took a bus from her protective house and wanted to go to Vasco but as the bus was going only to Zuarinagar, she got down at Queenie Nagar from where there is no trace of her.

Police suspect that the girl is somewhere in Goa itself and has probably taken up a job and living independently as that is what she wanted.