Chennai: Railway police arrest three women begging with children at railway station; seven kids rescued

CHENNAI: After receiving multiple complaints of women looting valuables at the railway stations, the Railway police arrested three women from Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh who begged at the railway station with babies and rescued seven children from them.

In the past few months, the number of women holding kids while begging in trains and at railway premises has increased, particularly in the suburbs between Chengalpattu and Guindy.

These women target rail passengers in the peak commute hours and steal valuables from them. After receiving several complaints on the issue, the Railway police and the Railway Protection Force (RPF) formed special teams to nab these beggars.

The special team has arrested three women in the last two days and rescued seven children aged between two months and five years. The women are from Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.

The women claimed the children were their own, but the police suspect that all the children were kidnapped and forced to beg. The kids were sent to a government-run home in Chengalpattu district.

Police have requested the public to be careful and not encourage such beggars by giving money. "Most of the babies brought on the train by beggars are kidnapped from other states. The children who beg in the trains commit crimes after growing up," police claimed and requested to report women begging with a baby or children begging on trains or railway premises to the 139 helpline.