Two persons held for feeding gutka to baby

Two commuters were arrested by Government Railway Police (GRP) at Jolarpet railway station in Tirupattur on Tuesday for reportedly feeding gutka to a baby.

The police said the arrested persons were identified as B. Sivakumar, 57, and Puthagunda Reddy, 38. They are residents of Kadapa in Andhra Pradesh. Initial inquiry revealed that the duo was travelling in an express train towards Bengaluru from Chennai when a fellow passenger R. Murali, 39, a resident of Jolarpet, saw Sivakumar allegedly feeding a small quantity of gutka to a one-year-old baby in the train.

The police said that the baby belongs to V. Raj Khan, 28, and Harina, 26, a native of West Bengal. The couple was working as wage labourers in Kerala. They were on their way to Karnataka to meet relatives. The couple was sleeping when the incident took place.

The police said an argument broke out between Murali and the duo in the train. A video of the incident, including that of the child being fed gutka surfaced on social media, inviting public outcry. The police said that Murali sought help from the child helpline. A case was registered at Jolarpet railway station. Arrested persons were lodged at sub-jail in Tirupattur town. The affected baby was treated at Government Taluk Hospital in Tirupattur town where doctors said the child is stable. A probe is under way.