Children abandoned at railway station saved by journalist's tweet

Three children apparently abandoned by their father at a New Delhi railway station were reunited with their mother after an appeal on Twitter.

A local journalist, Abhishek Shukla, 33, who was at the station saying goodbye to his parents spotted the three children huddled together on a platform, and tweeted a picture of them, asking for help.

He wrote: "Can someone help these helpless kids at New Delhi railway station near platform 16 entrance?"

The police were then alerted to the situation and found the children after a 30-minute search.

Local police chief Madhur Verma was the one who picked up the tweet, and then mobilised his men for the rescue.

According to the Mirror, he said: "When officers arrived they found the children had gone.

"Worried they may have been kidnapped they began searching the station and stopping passengers. Eventually, after an hour, they were found them hiding on another platform.

"They were cold, hungry and scared but we soon found out what had happened."

The children, Rumana, seven, Raja, five, and Sanya, four, were reportedly terrified, and said their father had taken them there on Tuesday evening, telling them their mother would come and get them.

But their mother, who is separated from the father, said he had not contacted her and she thought they were staying with him.

The children were able to describe where they lived in the Nabi Karim area of the city and were later reunited with their mother

According to the Indian Express, Sanjay Bhatia, deputy commissioner of the railway police, said: "The eldest of the three, Rumana, told us that their house was somewhere near Nabi Karim police station.

"Policemen took the children to that area and walked around until they identified their house. They were reunited with their mother."

According to Sky News, Charity World's Children said there are more than 11 million abandoned children in India, with more than 90% of them being girls.

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