VELLORE: A four-month-old girl, who was abandoned at the Katpadi railway station on Wednesday, was handed over to her parents by the Railway Protection Force (RPF) on Friday. According to the police, on Wednesday, a woman carrying an infant had asked a woman named Sundari to look after her baby as she wanted to use the washroom.
Sundari was waiting to board a train. After a long wait, when the woman failed to return, Sundari complained to the RPF. The police then took the infant to Adukkamparai GH. After a check-up, the baby was handed over to the district child protection officer.
The RPF then began to search for the woman. After sifting through CCTV footage, they traced the woman identified as Kalaichelvi. She is married to Vijay. During the inquiry, it came to light that both Vijay and Kalaichelvi were working in Tiruppur for meagre wages.
They already have three children. After the birth of the fourth child, Kalaichelvi was unable to rejoin work as she had to take care of the newborn and this put a tremendous strain on their finances. Hence, they decided to abandon the newborn, said the police.
On Friday, the RPF in the presence of the railway superintendent of police, V Ponramu, handed over the baby to the parents and advised them to take care of the child. The child has been named ‘Tamil Magal.’
SP Ponramu also praised and rewarded the team for their swift action in locating the parents within 24 hours. According to official sources, the child protection officer will provide counselling to the parents and help them access government schemes that help in raising a girl child.