Claiming to be her mother, 2 women fight for custody of 3-year-old found at Mathura railway station

The girl’s fate hangs in the balance until the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) report arrives. She was sent to the protection home on the direction of the Mathura Child Welfare Committee (CWC).

According to the police, the case dates back to January 7 this year when Haridwar resident Phoolwati, 26, lodged an FIR alleging that unidentified persons kidnapped her daughter from Mathura railway station where she was waiting for a train to Bharatpur in Rajasthan. A case was lodged on charges of kidnapping at the Mathura Government Railway Police station.

Almost 10 months after the girl went missing, the police on October 10 arrested five people, including Heena Chauhan, from another railway station in Mathura and found a three-year-old girl with them. The five arrested, including two women, were identified by the police as members of a child-lifting gang. The Mathura railway police filed a chargesheet against them for kidnapping.

“We informed Phoolwati that a girl was found. She came to Mathura along with her parents and identified the girl as her daughter based on a mark the child had on her back,” said Sub-Inspector Gaurav Verma, the investigating officer in the case.

Around a week after the arrest, Heena’s husband Raja Chauhan moved an application before the CWC claiming that the girl was his daughter. Heena was lodged in a jail.

“On Raja Chauhan’s claim, the CWC directed the police to get a DNA test done to ascertain the parents of the girl. Blood samples of Phoolwati and the girl were collected along with those of Heena, and Phoolwati’s husband Karan, who is lodged in Haridwar jail on theft charges, after obtaining permission from the concerned court,” said Verma.

He added that since Phoolwati could not produce any document related to the child’s birth, the CWC directed that the girl be sent to the Children Protection Home. “The next course of action would be decided after obtaining the FSL report,” the sub-inspector said.

The police are now looking for Delhi native Raja Chauhan who has been untraceable since filing the complaint. Officers have also decided to send his sample for examination.