Bhubaneswar, Oct 12 (IANS) A rickshaw puller dumped his two daughters - aged three and one - at a railway station in Orissa after he fathered a son, police said Monday.
The two girls Mamuni and Chummuni were left to fend for themselves, but were recovered by railway police officials.

“We recovered these two kids from the railway station very early in the morning Sunday. We were very surprised to see two kids crying at the railway station. We searched for their parents but no one claimed them. Later we found out that these kids had been left by their father at the railway station,” said Gopinath Sira, officer in charge of railway police at Khurdha station, about 20 km from here.

Later the police handed over the kids to a local NGO. The NGO tried to locate the parents all through Sunday but failed.

The parents are from Mangalajodi village in Puri district of Orissa.

According to police, the father Tapan Guru brought the children to the station and slept with them at the platform before abandoning them.

“What we have gathered from the kids and others who were on duty at the station is that the father brought these kids with him to the railway station on Saturday night. He slept with them at the station. After the kids slept, he left and took away the gold locket the younger one was wearing,” said Hochimin Sastry, secretary of Padmashree, a local NGO.

“We have also got to know that the father abandoned the children after the birth of a son. They had a son a month back. Since then the parents have been fighting with each other. On Saturday too the parents fought with each other before the father decided to abandon the children. The strange thing is that the mother pressurised the father to abandon the children,” Sastry said.

After locating the parents and counselling them, the NGO plans to hand over the children to them.

“We have sent some people to their village. We have decided to hand over these children to the parents but only after extended counselling. Though we have an orphanage, their parents place is best for them. Since they have little means to bring up these girls, we will also try to help by arranging some money for them,” Sastry added.