From missing to mascot: 3-yr-old becomes face for kids campaign

Jahnvi, the three-year-old girl who was reunited with her family two days ago after she went missing in the national capital on September 28, has turned mascot for a campaign to help trace missing children in the country.

The campaign ‘Bring Back Angels’ spearheaded by Jatin Kakkar, who along with Chandigarh-based non-governmental organisation Salaam Zindagi had led an initiative on social networking website Facebook and messaging application Whatsapp to spread the word about Jahnvi, would utilise the social media as a tool to trace children who disappear every year.

“On Facebook, we put one picture of Jahnvi that could draw people towards her and started the campaign ‘Bring Back Jahnvi’. In a single day, hundreds of people linked to us and till now there are more than 50,000 followers on the page,” Kakkar said.

“A group was created on Whatsapp and information about Jahnvi’s disappearance was shared with around 1,500 to 2,000 contacts,” he added.

Kakkar said Jahnvi’s story could be touted as a success story for social media. He urged kin of missing children to upload information about them on the Facebook page to reach out to lakhs of people to help locate the victims.

“Although, the police asked us not to spread the message so much on media fearing that it could even work as a deterrent in finding the child, we went ahead as we wanted to do more than just light candles and hold protest marches,” he said.

Asked why he chose to use social media during such a situation, Kakkar said, “Illiteracy is widespread in our country but Facebook is one thing that even a rickshaw-wallah uses these days.”

Jahnvi’s mother Sheetal said, “I don’t even want to recall the eight days that I have spent without her, I just hope this doesn’t happen to anyone’s child.”

At a press conference, Jahnvi posed with a picture of the son of Gokulpuri-resident Meena Kumari, who has been reported missing since March, 2011.

“Bhaiya ko dhoondo” (Look for my brother) says Jahnvi, who had gone missing from India Gate in the heart of Delhi on September 28 and was found in Janakpuri area and a placard hanging from her neck with the name and contact number of her father.