In a case that shocked fellow passengers and railway officials, a Kerala man mistakenly abandoned his four-year-old daughter, with whom he was travelling, on a train headed to Nagercoil.

The incident took place on Friday, according to railway officials. The man and his daughter had boarded the Shalimar-Nagercoil Gurudev Express from Salem, and were to get down at Palakkad. They were on their way to the man’s in-laws’ house in Wadakkanchery, which is near Palakkad.

The man, who was in an inebriated condition on the train according to officials, first missed the stop at Palakkad.

After realising he had missed his stop, the man hurriedly got off the train at the next station, and continued on to his in-laws’ home.

However, he forgot that he had left his daughter behind.

The child, who was sleeping on the train, began to cry when she woke up and did not see her father around.

"We found a four-year-old girl alone in the train at Kottayam and handed her over to Childline," an official said. He added that according to information later received from Childline personnel, the girl had been reunited with her parents.