Police have recovered four missing teenage girls, aged between 15 and 17 – three from Mirpur upazila in Kushtia and one from Narayanganj – from Hemayetpur in Dhaka, six days after they left home following an acquaintance on TikTok.
The recovery was confirmed on Tuesday afternoon by Mohammad Shahidul Islam, officer-in-charge of Mirpur Police Station. According to police, two pairs among the four girls had decided to live together in same-sex relationships.
Police, family, and local sources said three teenage girls from Gopinathpur area in Mirpur upazila left their homes on 5 October without informing their families.
Finding no trace of them, the families informed the police, prompting Mirpur Police Station to initiate a search operation to locate the missing girls.
Initial police investigations revealed that a girl from Mirpur became acquainted with a girl from Rupganj area in Narayanganj through a TikTok group, developing an intimate romantic relationship. Similarly, two other teenage girls from Mirpur formed a relationship via social media.
The four girls subsequently decided to live together, and in accordance with that plan, the three girls from Mirpur left home for Dhaka on 5 October. After meeting the girl from Narayanganj in Dhaka, they began living together and rented a house in the Hemayetpur area of Dhaka.
Police said two of the girls decided to “marry” each other and completed the formal marriage by touching the Holy Quran. They were living together like husband and wife, while the other two girls were staying in the same rented house.
Following the disappearance, Mirpur Police Station launched an investigation and tracked their location using information technology.
Under the overall supervision of Mohammad Shahidul Islam, officer-in-charge of Mirpur Police Station, a team led by Yosuf Ali, sub-inspector and in-charge of Kakiladah camp, identified their location.
On the evening of 11 October, police conducted a drive in Hemayetpur and rescued all four girls.
The officer-in-charge explained that the girls met and built relationships through a TikTok group.
He added that three missing girls from Mirpur and one girl from Narayanganj were recovered during the drive. Following legal procedures, all four girls were handed over to the custody of their families through the learned court.
