Jammu:
Six-year-old Shah Rukh Khan has been admitted to SMGS Hospital in Jammu in a starving, shivering and unconscious condition.
He was abandoned by his father on a train because he's suffering from chronic illness.
"My father left me and did not return. He went to get water and I was in the train," the boy said.
The child was found in Jammu but not before he'd almost died of cold.
"He was not wearing any warm clothes when we found him. He was only wearing a shirt, which was torn. He was shivering. His condition was very bad. Had he remained at the station for some more time, he might have died," said J K Kundal, Post Commander, Railway Protection Force (RPF).
He does not speak much but from broken conversations it could be gathered that Shah Rukh had been continuously ill for two months.
Early this week his father made him board the Jehlum Express in Uttar Pradesh and disappeared.
Police say possibly the parents could not afford his treatment anymore. Now strangers have stepped in with help.
"Whatever he asks for, we give him. Like tea and eggs. We have also provided him extra bedding," said Abdul Rashid, relative of a patient in the hospital where Shah Rukh is being treated.
Shah Rukh is under the care of an NGO and the police are trying to track his parents down. But what complicates the search: He can't recall the name of his home town.
A similar incident was reported a few months ago when three sisters were abandoned at Jammu Railway Station.
While their parents have been found the government, taking their extreme poverty into consideration, have kept the children in a government home.
Nobody knows what lies in store for Shah Rukh in the future, but clearly this is an incident that will continue to haunt him for the rest of his life.