Social Media Helps Missing 12-Year-Old Girl Get Back Home

When Ananya went missing on Tuesday from her school, a social media campaign had the entire city looking for her.

Ananya was found on Wednesday morning, 18 hours later, at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus station by the Mumbai Police.

(Photo: The Quint)

On 8:15 AM on Tuesday morning, Anindya dropped his 12-year-old daughter Ananya (name changed) and younger son at the gates of Hiranandani Foundation School in Powai, Mumbai. Then, she disappeared.

Ananya was found on Wednesday morning, 18 hours later, at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus station by the Mumbai Police, thanks to their tireless effort and a powerful social media campaign which quickly went viral.

The Power of Social Media

A social media campaign was started by Ananya's father and extended family members on Facebook, Twitter, and Whatsapp to find their missing girl on Tuesday morning. A heartfelt plea and photos of the girl were shared by hundreds across networks, till the word spread. 2,200 people tweeted her details, and 2,200 more retweeted messages with the hashtag. Friends and well-wishers arrived at her school gates to support her family and keep vigil in case she came back; people got out in groups and combed the streets looking for her.

This certainly also added pressure on the Mumbai Police, who, since the FIR was filed, were on their heels tracking her down after speaking to her family, friends and school members.

At around 11 PM on Tuesday night, the ugly head of social media reared its head, in the guise of fake news. News began circulating that “Ananya had been found”, however family and well-wishers in touch with the family soon clarified that the search was still on.

Ananya was found at 2:30 AM at CST station by the police, based on an anonymous phone call that directed them to four cameras out of the city’s 10,000 which spotted her.

Those close to the family are now coming forward with votes of thanks from the relieved but exhausted family, who are requesting some privacy from having shared their personal contact numbers on social media yesterday during the search for Ananya.

(The article has been updated to protect the identity of the missing person upon their request.)