PENAMPANG: Police have rescued a local teenage girl from a Filipino man, who attempted to sneak her out of the country to the southern Philippines via Sandakan, yesterday.
In the 11.30am incident, marine police personnel detained the 20-year-old man and his underage girlfriend for acting suspiciously at the Pasar Besar in Sandakan.
They were boarding a boat, heading to the Philippines, when the authority detained them.
District police chief Deputy Superintendent Mohd Haris Ibrahim said the 15-year-old girl was staying with her aunt here before she went missing on Wednesday.
"The aunt realised she was missing from the house at 5.30am and informed the girl's mother. Following that, the girl's relatives had tried to contact the teenager but failed.
"The mother was only able to get through her daughter's handphone at 11.30am (on Thursday) when the teenager was detained alongside with her boyfriend," he said, adding the girl has asked her mother to fetch her.
Mohd Haris said a marine police officer has alerted the mother of her daughter's detention after a man tried to sneak the teenager out of the country.
He added that the girl was later sent to the Duchess of Kent Hospital for medical examination.
Police arrested the girl's boyfriend for investigation under Section 363 of the Penal Code for kidnapping a person from her/his lawful guardianship.