Mother abandons son, father claims him

A 10-month-old boy was abandoned by a woman outside the Mahim Dargah yesterday afternoon. After no one came to claim him, shop owners in the vicinity took him to Mahim police station. But in a twist to the tale, the father arrived at the station late evening to claim the child.

According to flower vendor, Firoz Karim Khan, a woman came in a cab and requested him to take the baby inside the dargah for blessing. However, when he returned neither the woman nor the cab was to be seen. After the woman failed to show up after some time, he along with another shop owner took the baby to Mahim police station.

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Khan said, "I immediately informed the adjacent fruit vendor Javed Qureshi, who took the baby under his care and we both waited for the mother. But she didn't return and finally we went to the police station."

However, in a strange turn of events, the child's father arrived at the station late evening. DCP Zone V, Dhananjay Kulkarni said, "The father came and identified his son. He said the mother abandoned the child and went missing after a family dispute." The father, whose identity was not disclosed, claimed that he was a resident of Kalyan and his in-laws lived at Shivaji Park. He, along with his wife and son, had come to meet them when they suddenly realised that both the mother and the baby were missing. They immediately started searching in the vicinity and finally approached the Shivaji Park police station where they were informed about an abandoned baby found at Mahim. "The mother is still missing but the family has not registered a complaint. We are trying to trace her through her cell phone number. No legal action has been initiated so far against the family," said Kulkarni.u00a0