Thane: Jhansi Childline finds lost boy’s mother

After hours of gentle and patient questioning 11yearold Piyush Gautam finally opened up on Wednesday evening With teary eyes and a trembling voice he shared his motherrsquos mobile number with officials from the Jhansi Childline teammdasha turning point that led to an emotional reunion days laterOn the other end of the call was Ritadevimdashstartled overwhelmed and emotional Though frustrated and heartbrokenmdashthis wasnrsquot the first time her son had run awaymdashshe didnrsquot hesitate for long Within hours she boarded a train to Jhansi to bring him backPiyush had been found alone and disoriented on board the LTTGorakhpur Express on the night of April 14 When Childline staff located him he appeared more lost mentally than physically ldquoHe couldnrsquot recall a single phone number He mentioned a grandfather he was supposedly visiting but didnrsquot know the address or contactrdquo said Alok Kumar a constable with Jhansi Childline ldquoIt took time and gentle conversations but eventually he trusted us enough to share his motherrsquos numberrdquoPiyush Gautam with the RPF in Jhansi PicsChildline JhansiOnce contact was established Ritadevirsquos identity was verified through a series of questions and Aadhaar credentials She was urged to take the earliest possible train to Jhansi She arrived around noon on April 18 and was taken directly to the Childline office where her son was waitingThe reunion was quiet heavy with emotion The two embraced tightly the room falling into a respectful silence as the tears flowed They will remain in Childlinersquos care overnight and appear before the Child Welfare Committee CWC on April 19 for official proceedingsThis episode however is part of a longer and more painful pattern ldquoHersquos run away more than a dozen timesrdquo Ritadevi said in a conversation with midday ldquoEvery time we go crazy looking for himmdashfiling complaints spending everything I have just to get him back This time I had nothing leftmdashno money no strengthrdquoOriginally from Gorakhpur Ritadevi separated from her first husband and moved to Delhi to provide for her two sons Later she remarried and relocated to Mumbai in search of stability but that relationship also fell apart She now works as a cleaner and clothes arranger at a chemical company in MIDC Rabale supporting her children on a modest incomeShe believes her former inlaws have been influencing Piyush against her ldquoThey feed him thingshellip and hersquos just a child so he gets confusedrdquo she explained ldquoHe told me his mind goes blank sometimes and he just walks out He doesnrsquot even know how he ends up at the stationrdquoIn the past shersquos filed multiple missing complaints at local police stations ldquoBut this time I didnrsquot My phone had stopped working and honestly I thought hersquod call if he really needed merdquo she saidChildline officials had to convince Ritadevi to make the trip to Jhansi ldquoAt first she refused She said she had no money and was emotionally drainedrdquo said Bilal Ulahq station supervisor at Childline Jhansi ldquoBut our female officers spoke to her at length explained the importance of her presence Eventually she agreedrdquoAs Piyush his mother and younger brother sat quietly at the Childline office there was a fragile sense of calmmdashand perhaps a renewed sense of hope What lies ahead will be determined by the CWCatOptionskeyd0ddb8ef8f1a62a8cdd22fac27fc5ea7formatiframeheight90width728params