Three weeks on, Indian girl, 14, is still missing in the US World news

A 14-year-old Indian-American schoolgirl has been missing for more than three weeks in the US state of Arkansas, with police suggesting she may have fled for fear of leaving the United States as her father faced possibility of retrenchment among the layoffs in the technology industry.

Tanvi Marupally from Conway, Arkansas was last seen in her neighborhood on January 17 when she went to school on the bus, the Conway Police Department (CPD) said.

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Police said they believe one of the possible reasons why he fled was the fear of his family being deported, kark.com reported.

Tanvi’s parents believe their daughter ran away because of the family’s poor immigration status. They said that although they have lived legally and worked in the US for many years, hoping and trying to get citizenship, the country’s immigration system has left them in the cold, katv.com reported.

His father, Pavan Roy Marupally, who works in a technology company faces the possibility of losing his job due to the ongoing recession in the technology sector.

However, he has told the CPD that he is not in danger of losing his job and that leaving the country is not a concern at this time, kark.com reported. According to The Washington Post, nearly 200,000 IT workers have been laid off since November last year, with some record numbers at companies such as Google, Microsoft, Facebook and Amazon.

According to some industry insiders, between 30 and 40 percent of them are Indian IT professionals, a significant number of whom are on H-1B and L1 visas.

According to LayoffTracker.com, 91,000 were laid off in January 2023 and this number may grow in the coming months. This has a major impact on them, and their families, especially on H-1B holders who will need to leave the US immediately within 10 days beyond the H-1B grace period.

His mother, Sridevi Eadara, also lost her job, the report added.

Sridevi had to return to India alone and reapply for a visa as a dependent of Pavan. It took a year before he could be back with his family, katv.com reported.

When his daughter asked what they would do if she lost her work visa, Pavan told her not to panic.

“I said… let you and your mother first go back to India, let me find out what and how the system works, get a good job, then call you back,” Pavan said.

“(He said) what, back to India? Why should I go back to India? I’ve been here.”

Her parents believed the prospect of being kidnapped from her home in the US was too much for their daughter, the report added.

“It’s a big deal, any time a child is abandoned it’s a big deal,” Conway Police spokeswoman Lacey Kanipe said Tuesday.

“We are continuing to do well, our goal is to reunite with his family,” Kanipe said.

The community and CPD continue to look for him and now the game is available to anyone who can find it.

CPD said they asked the US Marshals Service and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children for their assistance with this investigation.

Tanvi’s family is offering a USD 5,000 donation in hopes of bringing her home.