In a heart-warming gesture, a police constable from Moosapet police station in Telangana's Mahbubnagar district won millions of hearts, after a picture of him holding a baby outside the SCTPC (Stipendiary Cadet Trainee Police Constables) exam centre in Mahabubnagar, went viral on Twitter on Sunday. In the picture tweeted by Rema Rajeshwari IPS, SP of Mahabubnagar, with the hashtag #HumanFaceOfCops, head constable Mujeeb-ur-Rehman can be seen trying to console a crying baby, whose mother was giving an examination inside the hall.
Mujeeb-ur-Rehman, head constable of Moosapet police station, was in charge of law and order at the SCTPC exam venue at the Boys Junior College in Mahabubnagar on Sunday morning. Speaking to TNM, Rehman said that though he is regularly put on duty at various exam centres, never before had he seen any candidate appearing for an exam along with an infant.
Head Constable Officer Mujeeb-ur-Rehman (of Moosapet PS) who was on duty for conducting SCTPC exam in Boys Junior College, Mahbubnagar
— Rema Rajeshwari IPS (@rama_rajeswari) September 30, 2018
trying to console a crying baby, whose mother was writing exam inside the hall. #HumanFaceOfCops#Empathy pic.twitter.com/QudRZbAADu
“I usually see people dropping their spouses or kin at the venue and returning. But this time, the woman candidate appeared at the centre with a four-month-old baby boy, along with her sister-in-law. Since we do not allow any accomplice to stay within the premises of the exam hall, we made them wait outside the school,” Rehman said.
Soon after the exam started, the police were put on duty and Rehman was patrolling outside the school premises when he heard the baby crying. “It was a three-hour long exam. The baby was quiet and played on the girl’s lap for about an hour. But as time passed, the baby started squirming. The woman’s sister-in-law, who would be barely 15 or 16 years old, kept cradling the baby, but to no avail. It was hungry, crying inconsolably and writhing in her lap. The girl clearly had no idea how to manage the infant,” Rehman says.
As the baby’s cry grew louder, Rehman approached the girl and took the baby in his lap. “I could not bear to see a child crying in front of my eyes. Also, there were no other women police constables or accomplices who could manage the baby. So, I didn’t think twice and took the infant into my hands.”
The baby rested on Rehman’s hands for 30 minutes, after which the former fell asleep.
“I was surprised,” recalls Rehman. “It stopped crying within a few minutes I took him into my lap. I even tried lulling him to sleep. After I made sure the baby was asleep, I handed him over to the little girl, who was, by then, relieved,” Rehman recalls.
Rehman says that after the woman returned from the exam hall at 1 pm, he asked her why she brought along a baby that was barely four-months-old.
“The woman was relieved to see her baby sleeping in the hands of her sister-in-law. She was worried about the child and in fact, tried rushing out of the exam hall. She told me she was a post-graduate but belonged to a poor family. She was in desperate need of money and was ready to do any job. She told me there was no one else to take care of the baby at home and that’s why she brought him along with her to the exam venue, all the way to Mahabubnagar,” Rehman says.
While the Telangana police have been at the receiving end of criticism following a murder spree in the state, Rehman’s heart-warming gesture has already earned him praises on social media. While many netizens have pointed out that it’s a much-required gesture to change the perception of people towards police, many have also appreciated the effort of a ‘real foot soldier’ working for peoples’ good.