Concerned passersby in Almaty helped avert a potential tragedy when they spotted an unaccompanied girl with developmental disabilities on a street in the Orbita microdistrict. It later emerged that the child, who had been in her grandmother's care, had run away from home. The website infohub.kz reports on the incident.
A Threads user under the handle ak_kosmo described what happened. According to her, she saw a naked girl on the street and followed her to keep the child out of danger. "The little girl was running through Almaty completely naked, and I followed her. She has autism and had run away from home. I called the police and an ambulance and did everything I could to hold on to her so she could be saved and returned to her parents," the Almaty resident wrote.
The author of the post clarified that the girl's parents contacted her even before law enforcement arrived — after the post appeared on social media. However, the woman refused to hand the girl over to them without police present. "Why won't I give her back? Because this isn't the first time the child has run away. I realized that when I saw how boldly she was helping herself to ice cream at the counter. She has her own route: the supermarket, then across the road for ice cream, she serves herself and runs off. I want to understand where the parents were when she ran away, how this happened and where all the bruises came from," she explained.
The Almaty Police Department confirmed to a NUR.KZ correspondent that the incident did indeed take place the day before in the Orbita microdistrict. Law enforcement established that the girl with developmental disabilities, who had been in her grandmother's care, ran away and ended up on the street without adults.
"Concerned passersby responded to the situation in a timely manner: they took care of the child's safety and helped contact her mother. The girl was soon returned to her parents. A preventive talk was held with the family, during which they were informed of the need for enhanced supervision of the child's safety given her individual characteristics. The police express their gratitude to all concerned citizens who did not pass by and showed care for the child. Such responsiveness and willingness to help are especially important when it comes to children's safety," the police said.