Abandoned 12-year-old traced to Dongri remand home

MUMBAI: "Oh almighty, we pray to thee,'' are the lines of a school prayer that Piyush Yadav repeats by rote. Ask him a question in any language , the otherwise reserved 12-year-old would immediately attempt a reply in English . However, his desire to study in a city school now seems like a distant dream.
After being abandoned in Mumbai by his uncle, this boy from Uttar Pradesh is now learning life's lessons in a Dongri remand home.
Piyush was found loitering outside a south Mumbai school on July 25 by social worker Tehmtan Dumasia. Dumasia took the boy to Colaba police station but he managed to give the police the slip. Later, the V P Road police traced him to the Marine Lines railway station and sent him to the remand home.
Piyush says he was terrified of the Colaba police. "They treated me as if I was a thief. So I fled from there as soon as I got the chance. Later, I was scolded by a few policemen at Churchgate station while I was trying to sleep there. I boarded a local train and came down to Marine Lines station,'' he said.
According to Piyush, his parents passed away when he was only four years old. He then stayed with his uncle Umashankar Yadav in the village Ramavapur. "My uncle and aunt sold the land that belonged to my father and brought me here, promising to admit me in a city school. While walking near Churchgate station, they sent me to fetch some water and disappeared before I could return,'' he said.
For now, Piyush has nowhere to go. All he wants to do is study. "I was studying in Std V in a convent school and scored 82% in the last exam that I gave,'' he claimed.
S P Gorad, superintendent of the observation home said that he is an intelligent boy. "During our Independence Day celebrations, he delivered a speech in English . He often approaches me after the morning assembly session and tells me to get him admitted to a school. The education provided here is elementary and not of his level.''
About his future in the remand home, A S Jadhav, chief provisionary officer, said, "We have sent letters to the district headquarters to trace his relatives. After the inquiry , if the story he is telling is found to be true, the Child Welfare Committee will step in.''
However, Dumasia who is looking for a person or NGO to adopt the child voiced his concerns. "I noticed him near a school in south Mumbai staring at the students going in and out. When I asked him why he was loitering near the school, he innocently said he wanted to study there.'' He does not want the child to get stuck in the legal system . "I request the NGOs and the social workers of the city to come forward and lend a helping hand to this child,'' he added. Dumasia can be contacted at 9820085528.
(kumar.sambhav@timesgroup .com )