BENGALURU: Two teenaged cousins, who had run away from home after failing in exams and were planning to end their lives were rescued by the Railway Protection Force (RPF) at KSR Railway Station on Wednesday. They have been handed over to their families now.
Government school students — Mahesh Chandra (name changed), a Class 9 student from Tumukuru, and Ashwin Kumar (name changed) a Class 10 student from Mandya — planned to run away from home or commit suicide, said a top RPF official. Around 9.30 am on Wednesday, RPF personnel attached to the Nanhe Farishtey unit, while on their routine inspection rounds on platforms 2 and 3, found the boys seated on a bench and crying.
“They had run away from home early on Wednesday,” the officer said. The boys allegedly concocted tales to the RPF cops, he said. They were then taken to Bangalore Oniyavara Seva Coota, an NGO.After counselling, they opened up. Chandra had failed in five of the six subjects while Kumar did not clear Hindi and English. One of them handed over the contact number of their uncle as they feared the wrath of parents. The parents of the boys reached the city by Wednesday afternoon and were counselled before the children were handed over to them.
Toll-Free numbers
In case you find a child in distress, you can call these numbers: 182 (RPF security helpline) and 1098 (helpline for Childline India, the NGO that has partnered with Railways and Ministry of Women and Child Development).