9 years and 7 months to Girl No. 166: A lost and found Mumbai story

Assistant Sub-Inspector Rajendra Dhondu Bhosle of D N Nagar Police Station in Mumbai handled the cases of 166 girls who went missing between 2008 and 2015 – the year he retired. He and his team tracked down 165 of them. She remained Girl No. 166, whom Bhosle kept trying to find for two years as a cop, and seven years after retirement.

At 8.20 pm on Thursday, the girl, just seven when she went missing on January 22, 2013, was reunited with her family. The 16-year-old was found living 500 metres from her home in Andheri (West).

While Harry Joseph D’Souza (50) has been arrested, his wife Soni (37) is an accused. The couple reportedly kidnapped her as they were desperate for a child of their own.

A lot has changed in this time. The girl had been put to work as a babysitter at a society in Andheri (West), while her father was dead. She instantly recognised her mother and uncle when they met. And, as a police team watched from a distance, holding its breath, both sides broke down