A FOUR-YEAR-OLD boy who was reportedly abducted by an unidentified man while playing on the side of the road near a hotel in North Reclamation Area, Cebu City around 10 p.m. on Tuesday, October 24, 2023, has returned later in the evening of the same day.
The child's 80-year-old great grandmother Salvacion Buena began seeking for him after he vanished, but she was unsuccessful, so they reported the incident to the Mabolo Police Station.
They then checked the CCTV camera in the area to verify claims by some witnesses that the child was taken by an unidentified man, who fled towards North Bus Terminal, which proved to be true.
They also went to the DyHP radio station, bringing with them the victim’s photo and the CCTV clippings, to ask the public to call the station if they saw the child.
However, Buena received a call later in the evening informing her that her great-grandson had been found in Colon Street, Cebu City and handed over to the Carbon Police Station.
The good news made Buena very happy.
"They should have been in the nearby internet cafe, sir. I wondered why my great grandson had not returned. According to the mother of another child, the man was supposed to take the two of them. That’s why when I came out of the house, my great grandson was nowhere to be found, and the other child had already left for home,” said Buena in Cebuano.
Police Major Eraño Regidor, the chief of Mabolo Police Station, said they could not determine yet the motive of the incident, but added that the culprit can be charged with kidnapping based on Republic Act 7610 or The Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Law, even if he did not demand ransom money.
"I don't know the whole story, but the element that he took the child without asking permission is indeed kidnapping in relation to RA 7610, that caused trauma to the child. The only thing missing is the element of the demand for ransom," said Regidor.
Regidor thought that the perpetrator may have left the child outside a mall in downtown Cebu City after knowing that the incident had gone viral in the social media.
The Mabolo police station will dig deeper in their investigation in order to identify the offender, who is said to have tattoo in the body as shown in CCTV.
Buena hoped that the person who took the child would be arrested. (With TPT)