Runaway boy who wanted to escape father, rescued
An 11-year-old boy, who had run away from his Malwani residence to escape being beaten up by his father, was found and rescued by the Colaba police at the Gateway of India on Wednesday.
This is the third such incident in the last six months, where the Colaba police has rescued runaway children.
Police inspector S.S. Mandlik from the Colaba police station said, “The boy, a Class 6 student, lives at a slum in Malwani near Malad and comes from a poor family. He claimed that his father would regularly beat him up for failing to study. Fed-up, he ran away from home and came to the Gateway of India on Monday.”
The boy, penniless and hungry, ate and slept around Gateway of India and survived on food given to him by the local tour guides.
“One of our patrolling constables found him and brought him to the police station. First, he claimed he was roaming around the area. However, later, he confessed to having run away. We then contacted the Malwani police station and learned that his father had registered a missing persons report the day he had run away,” Mr Mandlik said.
The boy was then given food and refreshments until his father came and took him home. The police only made a diary entry of the incident. “We also advised his father against hitting him,” said another officer, requesting anonymity.
In March this year, the Colaba police rescued a 16-year-old boy at the Gateway of India during a routine patrol. The boy had run way from his home in Nagpur as he was scared of appearing for his Class 10 exams fearing failure.
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