14-year-old reunited with parents after he fled from home

Published: Monday, Dec 13, 2010, 3:44 IST

Fed up with the bad habits and ragging by the peers at his school, a 14-year-old son of a builder in Nashik took a train and left the city on Thursday morning, after stealing about Rs8,500 and his cousin’s passport from his home.

The boy was found loitering at Dadar station in RSP (Road Safety Patrol) uniform with a school bag by the government railway police around 2pm and brought to Dadar railway police station.

His parents were informed who then reached the police station on Thursday night and took him home.

“We contacted his parents to inform them that he had been found safe. They thought he was in school,” said Shinde.

On being questioned by the police, he introduced himself as Prakash Bhosale (name changed to protect identity), the elder son of a local builder in Nashik. He said he was in Std IX in Maratha Vidhyalaya at Panchvati in Nashik.

“While checking his school bag, the police found his Nashik address and residential telephone number. Rs8,500 and his cousin’s passport, which he had stolen, were also found,” said senior inspector Shivaji Shinde of Dadar railway police station.

The boy, who secured 70% marks in Std VIII, said he desperately wanted to leave the school as all his classmates smoked, chewed paan masala and gutka by stealing valuables of other students and ragging them.

He said that he wanted to join Bhosale Military School at Nashik but never told about his wish to his parents.
The boy reportedly left home for school at 7am but instead roamed in Nashik for about three hours. Then he came to Nashik Road station, bought a ticket for Mumbai and boarded the Mumbai-bound Varanasi Express at around 11am.