Missing boy is found in Sharjah after two-day search

Teenager went missing after skipping lesson from private tutor in Sharjah

The family of Ameya Santhosh have distributed his missing poster in a bid to find their son. Courtesy family
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A boy who went missing in Sharjah on Friday morning has been found, according to local reports.

Ameya Santhosh, 15, was reportedly found wandering around the emirate with no money on Sunday afternoon.

His parents and Sharjah Police had been driving all around Dubai and Sharjah in an effort to find him and his missing poster had been widely shared on social media.

Earlier, Santhosh Rajan, Ameya's father, told The National he was the last to see his son at 10.15am on Friday, after driving him to see a private tutor in the Abu Shagara area of the emirate.

CCTV footage from street cameras showed that Ameya left shortly after being dropped off and never made his appointment with the tutor. Mr Rajan was notified of his son's absence by the tutor two hours after his lesson was due to start.

Ameya, a Grade 10 pupil at Delhi Private School, Sharjah ran away because of stress, his parents believe.

“Our son has been suffering stress because he had been getting some low results at school recently,” said Mr Rajan.

“He was due to do an exam today [Sunday] and he had been stressed and worried about it.”

Ameya, from India, was wearing a bright green t-shirt, three quarter length shorts and was carrying a black backpack when he went missing.

Mr Rajan said he and his wife, who also have an eight-year-old daughter, had been in close contact with Sharjah Police. Mr Rajan said his wife was too distraught to speak.

He also hit out against a false claim on social media that said Ameya was found on Saturday evening.

“There were reports on WhatsApp that he was found on Sunday but that is not true,” he said.

“He remains missing and we would ask people to ignore these false reports.

“If anyone has any information please don’t hesitate to contact us.”

Ameya’s mobile phone had been switched off since his disappearance.