The baby was abandoned and the mother intended to take her own life but a change of heart and an intervention by the police helped avert a tragedy.
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Police officials helped reunite a 23-year-old woman with her 9-month-old baby after she left the baby behind in a crowded dhaba in Hanagal town of Haveri district of Karnataka. Rekha Madiwalar, the mother, was fed up with her alcoholic husband and had intended to take her own life. However, after a timely intervention by the police, she was prevented from taking the extreme step and reunited with her baby. Hanagal circle police inspector Shivashankar Ganachari told IANS that it all began when Rekha Madiwalar, mother of the nine-month-old baby quietly left her child in one of the busiest roadside dhabas, Garam Masala, last week. "The people only realised after the baby started crying inconsolably either due to hunger or in search of its mother. First dhabawalas and customers ignored the cries of the baby thinking that it must be a stubborn baby. But, when cries got louder, one of the customers informed the police and we went there only to realise that the baby was abandoned," he explained. The officer added that after preliminary investigations when the police could not verify who had abandoned the baby, the women and child welfare department officials in Hanagal were alerted, who reached the spot and took the baby into their custody. While District Child Protection officer (Hangal), Mallikarjuna Mathad said that the baby was tired of crying and hungry too. "We immediately took steps to feed the baby. The baby co-operated on that occasion. Then when we started investigations along with police, we came to know that a woman who left the child boarded a bus towards Shivamogga, that clue alone helped us solve the case in two days," he said. The police immediately alerted Shivmogga and Uttara Kannada (Karwar) police. "The moment local cable channels aired this news on their channels, relatives of the child from both Karwar and Shivamogga came to Hangal, by then baby's mother had returned to Hangal, she was not aware that her baby's news had reached her parents as well as to her husband's relatives," Ganchari explained. According to the relatives from both sides, they confessed that Rekha's husband Prakash was a chronic alcoholic and even to that moment, he was not aware that his son and wife had gone missing. "Karwar police had taken him into their custody, but he was inebriated and he came to his senses only after staying for a day in police lockup," the officer said. According to him, Rekha took a bus to Shivamogga to reach her parents' house in Soraba, but she had got down midway thinking that she would take her life as she felt that someone would 'certainly take care of her son' better than her. The police added that the woman had second thoughts after leaving her son behind and returned to the dhaba. “The dhaba staff immediately informed us and by then she reached our station, where she said that she wanted to take care of her son. As she was pleading, her relatives came, they produced required documents and she was reunited with her child on Sankranti, it was not planned but they were destined to reunite on Sankranti," he said. If you are aware of anyone facing mental health issues or feeling suicidal, please provide help. Here are some helpline numbers of suicide-prevention organisations that can offer emotional suppport to individuals and families. Tamil Nadu State health department's suicide helpline: 104 Sneha Suicide Prevention Centre - 044-24640050 (listed as the sole suicide prevention helpline in Tamil Nadu) Andhra Pradesh Life Suicide Prevention: 78930 78930 Roshni: 9166202000, 9127848584 Karnataka Sahai (24-hour): 080 65000111, 080 65000222 Kerala Maithri: 0484 2540530 Chaithram: 0484 2361161 Both are 24-hour helpline numbers. Telangana State government's suicide prevention (tollfree): 104 Roshni: 040 66202000, 6620200 SEVA: 09441778290, 040 27504682 (between 9 amd and 7 pm) Aasara offers support to inidviduals and families during an emotional crisis, for those dealing with mental health issues and suicidal ideation, and to those undergoing trauma after the suicide of a loved one. 24x7 Helpline: 9820466726 Click here for working helplines across India.
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