Boy whom his mother forgot reunited with family after 20 days

On February 1, Mangal (30) allegedly sneaked out of her mother's home in Chembur's Shramjeevi Nagar with Pintu. They remained untraceable for the next five days, police said.

Her family was not alarmed as she had gone missing on several occasions in the past too. On three previous occasions, she returned home without Pintu and without recollection of where she had left him.

On each of those occasions, her family traced Pintu within a day with the help of local social workers. Subhash said Mangal does not remember where she goes once she leaves home.

"A few weeks after Pintu was born, Mangal began to experience lack of sleep and bouts of forgetfulness. Her behaviour also changed. It wasn't anything to worry about until she began to disappear. She would fight with her mother and leave house when no one was around," he said.

Mangal Kharat lives with Subhash (35), a cleaner with a private firm at Vashi Naka in Chembur, and sons, Sumit (7), Suresh (4) and Pintu. She was working at CST but left the job a few years ago, police said. Mangal was found at Kalyan railway station on February 6 by social workers familiar with her condition.

Police said she told the social workers she threw Pintu off a train because she could not tolerate him. "But she did not remember which train she travelled on and how she came to Kalyan. She only kept repeating she had been to CST. She used to work there and it is possible she took a train to CST on February 1," said Surendranath Deshmukh, senior inspector, CST GRP police station.

Over the next ten days, the family looked for Pintu in Chembur and Kalyan without success. When they approached Nehru Nagar police station in Kurla to register a missing complaint, Mangal could not recall where she was between February 1 and 6.

"Since she kept repeating CST, Nehru Nagar police told her to approach us. A complaint was registered on February 16," Deshmukh said.

His team took Mangal around CST the same day but she was unable to remember which train she took on February 1.

"We sent notices to every police station and informed the missing persons bureau and the juvenile aid protection unit (JAPU) of Mumbai Police. We also checked Mankhurd and Dongri children homes," Deshmukh said.

"We then decided to check homes in Thane district since Mangal was found in Kalyan and on Wednesday, a home in Vasai told us they rescued a boy from Vasai station on February 4. My officers went there with Subhash's brother Kailash. The boy recognised Kailash and ran towards him. But how Pintu came to Vasai four days after disappearing from Chembur, we do not know," he said.

Subhash is relieved to have found his son but did not rule out the possibility of this happening again.

Court acquits woman, son of attempt to murder

A sessions court Thursday acquitted a woman and her son accused of attempting to murder her estranged second husband. Sessions judge G T Kadri acquitted Shahin Khan and her 30-year-old son Mohammed Khan alias Sonu after the victim, Mohammad (36), and another witness turned hostile.

The case was registered on June 14, 2012, when Mohammed, a warehouse owner, met Sonu near a masjid. An argument broke out between the two over a property issue and Sonu, according to police, attacked him with a knife. Mohammed lost four fingers and a part of his left palm. He was rushed to JJ Hospital by a biker.

Police arrested both Shahin and Sonu the next day.

They were booked under 307 (attempt to murder) and other sections of Bombay Police Act. Later in the charge sheet, the prosecution mentioned that Shahin along with his son had conspired to kill Mohammed.

While Shahin was granted bail soon after her arrest, Sonu was granted bail earlier this month after the victim said he had no objection to his release.

According to the charge sheet, Shahin, whose family is into construction business, was earlier married to the victim's uncle and had four children with him. After her husband's death, she married Mohammed. The couple parted ways soon after marriage, and were involved in property dispute.

When the case came up for hearing, the victim withdrew his claim. During his deposition, Mohammed told the court that he had never mentioned to police that Sonu attacked him. Mohammed also claimed he was attacked by an unknown person.

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