Child rescued after travelling for over 100 kms inside train’s wheelset in northern India

April 22, 2024

by Surya Prakash

• Child rescue
• Hardoi
• RPF
• Uttar Pradesh

A child was rescued by the Railway Protection Force (RPF) after he had travelled over 100 kms while being trapped inside of the wheels of a goods train in northern India’s Uttar Pradesh.

This incident took place in Hardoi district of the state on April 19.

Visuals showed the child being rescued by a cop of the RPF. The child was trapped inside of the train’s wheelset and the vehicle was stopped to save his life. The cop then asked the little boy to come out and he was safely rescued. The boy was covered in dust from head to toe because of being inside of that space for a long time. According to a report, the child got into the middle space of the goods train which was travelling from Lucknow to Rauza, while playing and could not get down once the vehicle started moving. As a result, he remained seated inside the middle space of the train and travelled for over 100 kms in the scorching heat and dusty space before being spotted by the RPF. Sub-inspector Sanjeev Kumar and constable Sunil Kumar rescued the child from the coalbox of the train.

The train was stopped when it was about to reach Hardoi and the boy was rescued successfully by the RPF. The child was later taken to the RPF Hardoi post.

The boy aged five, who was a bit scared, identified himself as Ajay and stated that he and his father begged for a living and that his mother Shalini had fled somewhere. Ajay’s father Puran was informed about his son and later he was found lying on a footpath near Rajajipuram Tahilar temple by constable Santosh Kumar of the Alamnagar RPF. He said he was poor, handicapped and begged for a living and would travel to Hardoi to get his son back. Ajay also shared that he has two brothers and as many sisters.

The RPF then bathed the child and fed him before handing him over to the Child Welfare Committee. It was learnt later that the boy would be sent to a juvenile home and a decision on his protection and safety will be taken by the Child Welfare Committee.