POLICE in Bratislava are investigating three attempted child abductions that were reported in different districts of the capital, the Sme.sk website reported.
“Police are dealing with all these reports,” said Petra Hrášková, the spokesperson for Bratislava police headquarters, as quoted by Sme.sk, adding that she would not say anything more specific.
The spokesperson did confirm, however, that the reported cases involved different circumstances. The first report involved a 14-year-old girl who was approached by two masked men on her way home from school in Karlova Ves; the second involved a boy who managed to escape being dragged into a van, the Plus Jeden Deň daily reported.
The most recent case involved men reportedly following a 10-year-old girl on her way home from school on March 13. The girl said she was followed by a silver Mercedes; when a man reportedly jumped from the car and tried to snatch her, she fled and was able to disappear into a crowd of people at a tram stop.
The police regularly tell children not to talk to people they do not know and have organised several lectures in schools around Bratislava Region to warn children about possible risks and tell them what to do if they are approached by people who offer them gifts, Sme.sk wrote.
“Children have to be careful and not trust strange people,” stated Hrášková, as quoted by Sme.sk, adding that it is nonetheless important not to frighten children into treating every situation as dangerous.
The mayor of Bratislava’s Nové Mesto district, Rudolf Kusý, reacted to the reports by asking for increased police patrols in front of schools and children’s playgrounds, the TASR newswire reported.
