A Bangladesh girl who eight years ago had crossed the international border and stepped into India by mistake, will be handed over to her parents at the India-Bangladesh border in Petrapole of North 24-Parganas on Friday.

The girl, then aged 12, had crossed the border and then somehow reached Siliguri. She was found roaming in the streets by police and shifted to a government-run home for destitute girls in Jalpaiguri and then to another shelter at Kamakhyaguri in Alipurduar.

For some years, district administration had been trying to locate her parents, contacting the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission in Calcutta.

“It was only recently that we came to know she is from Sirajganj district of Bangladesh. Her parents and two siblings are back home. We then took up the task of cross-verification with authorities of Bangladesh. While she identified her parents’ photographs here, her parents identified her there (in Bangladesh) too,” said Surendra Kumar Meena, the district magistrate of Alipurduar.

The administration pursued the matter with the Bangladesh government through agencies of the state and the Centre. Finally, it was decided that the parents would be brought at the Petrapole-Benapole border on Friday where she would also be taken and handed over to them in presence of officials of both countries.

“We are happy that she will finally return home. Last week, she underwent Covid-19 test and was found negative. On Thursday, she will be accompanied by our officials and reach Murshidabad from here. On Friday, she will be taken to the border for necessary formalities,” Meena said.