11/07/2014 … The humane side of the men in uniform once again drew applause from public when the RPF of Konkan Railway recently re-united a young boy with his parents.
The boy, Akash, 14 year old, who is studying in IXth class at Kundapura, was found travelling alone in school uniform in the general coach of train no. 11098 Poorna Express by the RPF when the latter were conducting a drive to prevent eunuch menace in trains.
Upon enquiring, the boy gave some vague replies. Suspecting that he is lying, the RPF personnel de-boarded him and brought him to the RPF outpost.
The boy finally spilled the beans and informed that he had run away from his home to escape daily torture by his father. He said that he left his school bicycle at Kundapura Railway station and had boarded the train so that he could go to Mumbai and then from there travel towards West Bengal where his relatives stay.
The RPF informed the boy’s parents and asked them to come to the RPF outpost. When the parents reached there, the visibly shocked father, who is working as a car driver in the Gulf and was visiting them on a holiday, said that he had scolded his son for not performing well in the exams and had restricted his wandering in the evenings so that he should devote time to his studies. However, the boy was angry over this and left the house without informing anyone.
The parents of the boy requested the RPF to release their son. The son was counseled by RPF personnel but he was not willing to go with his parents. So the RPF called the President of the Parents Association of schools of Bhatkal area, Shri Radhakrishan Bhat, to the station. After being counseled by Shri Bhat, the boy agreed to go back home and promised that he would not repeat this.
This act of the RPF was lauded by Shri Bhat and the parents of the boy who were profusely thankful to the RPF Sub-Inspector – Shri Santosh Gaonkar and the Constable – Shri Praveen K, for reuniting their son with them.
