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NEW DELHI: To escape his abusive father and spend Ramzan with his mother, a 10-year-old boy fled from his house in Gokulpuri in northeast Delhi .

Accompanied by his 12-year-old friend, both of them boarded a train to Aligarh on the pretext of visiting a nearby mosque.

DCP (northeast) Atul Kumar Thakur said a team led by SHO Jyoti Nagar Jai Bhagwan Gautam rescued the kids from Sikandarabad in UP , who are undergoing counselling. The boy told police that they intended to live in Aligarh and open a shop to there.

The incident was reported on Thursday when the boys went out to offer namaz with the neighbours. However, in between the prayers, they left for the railway station and boarded a train to Aligarh. The boy had his mother’s address where she had been living after separating from her husband.

On Friday, the boys reached the woman’s house and said they wanted to live with her. However, she refused to let them in and told them to go back. Meanwhile, the families in Delhi approached the police and got separate kidnapping cases registered.

Disheartened, the kids headed back to Delhi and boarded a train from Aligarh. However, they took a wrong one and got down at Sikandarabad, in UP. Confused, they decided to spend the night at the station.

During the probe, cops made a call to the woman, who confirmed that the kids had come, but she asked them to return. On Saturday, the boys continued to stay at the station and were noticed by the beggars there. The group surrounded them and were about to thrash them when a passenger intervened and saved them. “They initially tried to evade the man’s questions, but later told him that they are from Gokulpuri. The man had a relative there and told him about the kids, following which they were traced,” an officer said.

The local police were alerted and the kids were finally reunited with their families.

