2 Bhandup kids run away fearing parent rap, reunited

Nashik: Two students from a Bhandup school, who ran away after being punished by the principal in front of their parents, were intercepted by the Railway Protection Force at Nashik Road station on August 10. They were handed over to their parents the next day.
RPF officer Vijay Pendhari spotted the kids in their school uniform walking aimlessly on platform number 2 of the station around 7.30pm on August 10."I was surprised to see both the kids strolling on the platform in their school uniforms, that too so late in the evening and all by themselves. When I approached them, they gave some lame excuses," inspector JA Pathan, RPF, Nashik Road said.
Not satisfied with their replies, the officer brought both of them to the RPF office. "The inspector got into a conversation with both the kids, asking about their background and where were they headed to," an RPF officer said.
"The children first said that they were given chocolates by some unknown person, who brought them to Igatpuri and later to Nashik. However, their body language did not substantiate their claims. Therefore, we decided to check the footage from the closed-circuit television cameras installed at the Igatpuri station. Upon checking the footage, it was revealed that they were just cooking up the story," Pathan said.
The CCTV footage showed that the two kids along with another were roaming aimlessly at the station. "They were not with any person," the officer added.
When the RPF officers asked both the kids the reason for lying, they spilled the beans. "They told us that they, along with one other student, had beaten up one of their friends at their school on August 9, following which, the principal summoned their parents to school. They were punished in front of their parents on the school premises on August 10," Pathan said.
After the punishment, the kids were scared of going back home fearing their upset parents. "After the school was over, instead of going home, they travelled to Kalyan by a local train and then boarded the Lokmanya Tilak Terminus – Gorakhpur Express. They got down at Igatpuri station. Meanwhile, one of the students developed cold feet and boarded Geetanjali Express to return home while these two stayed back," the officer said.
Thereafter, both the students continued their journey to Nashik Road railway station, where they were spotted by the RPF. "We called up their parents the same day. They reached Nashik Road station in the early hours of August 11," Pathan added.
"We completed all the formalities by 8am and handed over the children to their parents. We have asked the parents to take them to some counsellor," Pathan said.