Over 700 runaway kids rescued from Mumbai platforms in 2017

Representational pictureDream to make it big in Bollywood craze to meet their favourite film stars scolding by parents or a wish to see the maximum city are some of the reasons that prompted over 700 children to run away from their homes and come to Mumbai last year As per the figures provided by the Railway Protection Force RPF 706 children mostly from other states were rescued from various railway platforms of Mumbai and its suburbs in 2017Altogether 528 children 360 boys and 168 girls were rescued from western suburbs while 178 children 115 boys 63 girls were found in the central suburbs Most of these children were in the age groups of 1318 years and hailed from the states like Uttar Pradesh Rajasthan and Gujarat an official said Among all the stations in Mumbai and suburban areas the Mumbai Central railway station accounted for maximum number of rescued children 129Mumbai Central BCT station is home to about 2122 long distance trains from states like Rajasthan Gujarat New Delhi and Uttar Pradesh Last year we rescued 129 kids from here and most of them hailed from these states Anup Kumar Shukla Senior Divisional Security Commissioner Western Railway RPF told PTI Another RPF official said Attracted by the glamorous lifestyle of the maximum city these youngsters come here for auditions to become an actor or singer Some of them even come here just to meet their favourite film stars or become cricket players In one of the cases the RPF found a 15yearold boy who was from Bikaner Rajasthan roaming at Mumbai Central The boy later told the officers that he had ran away from his home to become an artiste in Bollywood Then there was an 11yearold boy from Surat who had lost his parents and was staying with his uncle He had come to Mumbai to meet his favourite Bollywood superstar Salman KhanThe starstruck kid had the address of the mega star written on his palm the official said A 12yearold boy resident of Mathura in UP had left home with his cricket kit After he was rescued he told the officials that he had run away from home to pursue his dream of playing cricket in Mumbai According to the RPF some children run away from home just for Mumbai darshan while there are few others who leave their homes after being scolded or beaten by their parents A 16yearold girl had come all the way from Kashmir to pay a visit to Haji Ali Dargah In another case a 13yearold child ran away from his home in Gorakhpur Uttar Pradesh as his stepmother had beaten and scolded him the official added There was a teenage boy who left home as he had failed in Class X the official said Representative of a NGO that works in coordination with the RPF in rescue of these children saidAfter a child is found at the railway station he or she is made to feel comfortable at our kiosk at various stations Then a medical test is conducted and procedures like making entries with and filling up documents are followed at station managers office The child is then produced before the Child Welfare Committee for their restoration within 24 hours he said If the parents of these children are traced the kids are handed over to them while others are sent to the Childrens Home in Dongri and Mankhurd both in Mumbai for rehabilitation he added As per the RPF data out of 706 children rescued last year 425 were reunited with the parents after following due procedure and 265 children whose parents could not be traced were sent to the Childen Home Besides 16 children were handed over GRP Government Railway Police station concerned for further investigationCatch up on all the latest Mumbai National and International news hereDownload the new midday Android and iOS apps to get updates on all the latest and trending stories on the goThe contentreporting displayed on our website wwwmiddaycom is provided ASIS AS AVAILABLE by us from third party agencies sources without any verification from our side It may contain error bugs and other limitations The readers can rely on the content at their own will Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability data text images video messages or any other material whatsoever or for any claimslossaction that the reader may suffer as a result of relying on the content on our site Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever