Missing teen had chatted with Indian man on Facebook

A 15-year-old boy went missing while on his way to Small and Smart Academy in Mombasa on Saturday.

Ismael Omar's family said he left home at 8am and was last seen boarding a matatu at Kingorani.

FACEBOOK CHAT

Farhia Adan and Omar Mohamed are the parents of the class eight pupil.

“The boy was supposed to return home at noon as usual. When I inquired from his school on why he was taking long, I was told he didn’t go to school,” Mr Mohamed said.

The parents then talked to the teenager's close friends, who informed them that he had been in constant communication with an Indian man who resides in Mtwapa. They said the man had promised to take the boy to Tanzania.

“The information we have is that they had been chatting on social media, Facebook in particular. We are not sure whether he followed the man to Mtwapa,” Mrs Adan said.

The boy reportedly told his friends that he would visit the man on Friday so they could plan for him to acquire a passport for the trip.

PASSPORT

Mr Omar's parents said that on Thursday, he asked his friends where he could get a passport and how much the trip would cost.

“They told us that they cautioned him against trusting his newfound friend and advised him to focus on KCPE examinations that are around the corner,” the mother said.

She added that she declined to allow her son go to the gym, advising him to concentrate on his studies.

Mrs Adan described Mr Omar, the third born in a family of four children, as obedient, humble, polite and disciplined.

“I wonder how he mastered the courage to trust a stranger. He is a coward who never sleeps alone. He even gets scared by a cat,” she said.

RECRUITMENT

Mr Mohamed described his son as innocent and soft spoken, and said he did not understand how he ended up chatting with a stranger on social media.

“He is very slim. I even told him not to bother going to the gym because he doesn’t have the kind of energy needed to lift weights. I don’t know the kind of work he is capable of doing since he is too thin,” he said.

The parents are worried that the boy might have been recruited into a crime group.

The family has reported the matter to Central police station, OB 76/1/9/18.