Auraiya (UP): Rejected by her own who couldn’t care any less about her elderly mother, when 75-year-old Somwati approached the local police to seek police help against her own son who had been ill-treating her, little did she know that the same police station would become her home for the next two years.
Today, the entire police station has embraced her as their own mother. Often, scuffles and arguments between the policemen posted at the station are resolved by Somwati.
There is a general perception that guides our understanding of the police community at large. From indifferent, rude to exploiters are the usual refrain.
This story of humanity by the personnel at a police station in Uttar Pradesh’s Auraiya district is one that must not be forgotten.
Upon reaching the police station to file her complaint, she was first offered water and then sweets to settle her down. When asked why she wanted to register a complaint against her own son, Somwati lost control of herself and burst into tears.
According to the elderly woman, her son had evicted her from their house and did not bother to even ask her for food. Upon hearing the complaint of the distressed mother, the police immediately sprang into action. Circle Officer Shiv Raj sent some policemen to her son and her problem was solved.
So impressed was she at the treatment meted out to her by the policemen that she decided not to return home and stayed there instead. Today, policemen at the station refer to her Amma (mother) and asking her regarding her well-being is their first task every morning upon arriving for duty.
The matter came to light when Shiv Raj made a post regarding this gesture on Facebook sometime back. It soon went viral and won adulations for the official and the policemen posted there. The gesture is now set to be rewarded by the Director General of Police. Shiv Raj will be felicitated for his act of kindness in Lucknow for providing support to Somwati.
Not only Shiv Raj but there is other police officials too, who not only provide her food and shelter but they also arrange sundry items like saris, slippers and toiletries for her.
Shiv Raj says it wasn’t easy for him to make the decision. It was a time when Bidhuna police station in Auraiya was busy in preparing for Lok Sabha election in 2014 and he was worried who would take care of the elderly woman living alone in a police station. However, the manner in which the entire staff at the police station has embraced the lady is nothing short of exemplary.
Somwati is now a motherly figure to Shiv Raj. Whenever the officer visits Auraiya, he never forgets to spend time with her. Other officers too treat her like their own mother.
Unfortunately though, it has been three years and the son whom she raised is yet to visit her once.
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