Runaway boy from shelter home has no coronavirus symptoms: NGO

A 13-year-old boy, who ran away from a shelter home here on Wednesday morning and returned after a few hours feeling unwell, was later found to have no symptoms of the coronavirus, a police official said.

The boy was found coughing and sweating after his return and was kept in isolation at the shelter home run by an NGO in suburban Bandra, he said.

According to the police official, the NGO registered a missing person's complaint at the Bandra police station after the boy was not found in the shelter home.

Based on the complaint, the police registered an FIR under IPC section 363 (kidnapping).

"But, within a few hours we were informed by the NGO that the boy has returned with ill health and we helped him get medical help," the police official said.

"We decided to get him admitted to the Kasturba Hospital for suspected coronavirus infection. However, the civic-run hospital cleared him after a medical check-up," a functionary of the NGO told PTI.

"We will take him to Bhabha Hospital for further treatment," he said.

Around 35 children are housed at the shelter home, but the boy has been kept away from them as a precaution, the functionary added.