A ‘naughty’ 14-year-old boy was left to fend for himself by his mother in April this year. He was not allowed to enter his own house despite repeated pleas to his mother. One of his friends took pity on him and took him in but later, when the friend’s family could not look after him anymore, the teenager was reduced to living in a park near his house in lodhi Road complex and begging for food from people in the locality.
Despite several attempts by the boy, his mother, who works with the Ministry of Finance (Government of India), refused to take him back. This continued for over eight months till the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) stepped in and took him to an ashram. An FIR under Section 75 of the Juvenile Justice Act was registered at lodhi Colony police station.
He was admitted to Bal Kalyan Samiti Ashram by the CWC in the first week of October. The boy who had undergone the ordeal told the CWC counsellors that his mother will not take him back and he would like to stay in the ashram and complete his studies.
As per the complaint given by the CWC to the police, the boy used to be beaten up by his alcoholic step-father, who scolded and locked him up at home whenever the family went out to a relative's place.
The boy, in his complaint, said that he was first admitted to Sun Valley School in Ghaziabad after which he was transferred to Kendriya Vidyalaya School in lodhi Road where he studied till Class V.
“He was then admitted to Delhi Kannada School in lodhi Estate and then to St Joans School in the same area where he studied till Class VIII. In April this year, the boy's mother had taken him to an academy in Noida. That was the last time the boy lived with his mother. He was not allowed inside his home after that,” read the complaint. The boy alleged that his mother even refused to give his belongings.
“One day I left my friend's house and went back to my house and knocked and called out to my mother but no one opened and she asked me to leave. I started staying in a park near my house and my friends would provide food for me. Due to these problems, my studies have been hampered and so I would like to stay at the ashram so that I get uninterrupted education” said the boy.
When The Pioneer contacted the mother of the boy, she said she did not know her son's whereabouts.
She said that he was her biological son from her first husband. She had separated with her husband with mutual consent. She took the child along with her as he was studying in a primary school. “I separated from my first husband and then got married to another man with whom I had two daughters. My son was staying with me and I ensured that he received education but as time passed by he was uncontrollable. He was rude to everyone and would misbehave a lot. He had no interest in study for which I had to transfer him from one school to the other. He would sometime run away from home without intimating me. This had disturbed me a lot. In 2012, my second husband died due to liver Sirosis and now I have to look after my two daughters. I asked him to leave in April this year as I could not bear him anymore. I did not let him in my house every time he came back,” said the boy's mother.
“I gave a last chance by taking him to an academy in Noida in April but in the entrance test, he hardly answered anything. That was the last straw. I could not allow him back home anymore. I don't know where he went all these days. I never gave him a single penny. I have given him his first father's address and now if he wants he can leave, I don't want him,” said the mother, alleging, “the society people saw him and took him to CWC, who registered a false case against me.”