18-year-old held for abandoning 45-day-old child in local train

The Dadar railway police on Sunday arrested an 18-year-old woman for allegedly abandoning her 45-day-old child in a first-class compartment of a Dadar-Kalyan local train. The woman, identified as Puja Rafiq Shaikh, was detained at Bhandup railway station by the railway authorities. Shaikh is a resident of Nashik.

According to the police, complainant Deepak Kadam, 52, a constable with Dadar railway police, was on duty at the station on Saturday. He found the infant at 9.59pm when he entered the ladies' first-class compartment of the local for a routine check.

"Kadam informed his colleagues and brought the child to the police station. Some time later, we got a call from Bhandup railway police that a woman who is believed to be the abandoned child's mother has been detained at Bhandup railway station by the station master and police authorities," said an officer from Dadar railway police station.

He added that the woman was later brought to Dadar railway police station. "She told us that since she could not take care of the child, she abandoned her. We have registered an offence against her under section 317 of the Indian Penal Code (exposure and abandonment of child under twelve years by parent or person having care of it)," added the officer.

While the child has been sent to a children's home at Matunga, the police are likely to carry out a DNA test of Shaikh to ascertain whether she is indeed the child's mother.