A 19-year-old engineering student from Chennai was arrested on charges of kidnapping two minor girls after a transgender woman helped rescue the girls and informed the Railway Protection Force personnel in the train they were travelling on regarding the incident.

The 19-year-old man, identified as Surya Prakash, hails from Velachery. He had apparently decided to leave his home Saturday night after his parents scolded him. The teenager forced a 13-year-old he befriended on Instagram to accompany him to Srivilliputhur. Upon his persistence, the girl decided to meet him and brought her 8-year-old cousin sister along with her to the Egmore railway station. The trio boarded a train and were on their way to Srivilliputhur when the transgender woman came across them. Noticing that something was amiss, the trans woman questioned them about their whereabouts and informed the Railway Protection Force personnel in the train immediately.

Meanwhile, the girls' parents had approached the local police to inform them of their missing children. The 13-year-old girl's mobile phone was traced and located when the three of them were crossing Villupuram while the Railway Protection Force got in contact with them. The girls, who were rescued and further questioned by the police, revealed that they were forced to accompany the 19-year-old. The accused was then arrested on charges of kidnapping.