Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Seven-month-old Bitti is unaware of the tragedy that has befallen her. She easily fell asleep while sucking milk from a bottle at SOS Children Home on the outskirts of Jammu city on Monday evening.
Bitti along with her two sisters Kajal (4) and Anchal (2) was abandoned by her father,Rampal,at the Jammu railway station on Saturday evening.
The children had come to Jammu from Allahabad along with their parents nearly three months ago. Their mother,Santosh,reportedly fled with her paramour last week,making Rampal,a rickshaw-puller,abandon them.
The police,who arrested Rampal this morning,said he boarded a Delhi-bound train,leaving the children outside the railway reservation counter.
After sometime,children started crying,attracting the attention of people,including the railway police,said Deputy Superintendent of Police Dushyant Sharma. As no one turned up to claim the children,the police took them to Nari Niketan at R S Pura which,however,refused to take them in due to their age. The police kept the children with them until District Magistrate Manoj Diwedi ordered handing them over to SOS Children Home.
Sharma said Rampal returned to Jammu after he began feeling guilty for abandoning his children. We arrested him as soon as he got off the train, he said,adding that they were now looking for his wife.
