A 50-year old woman, who had left her home near Cuddalore in Tamil Nadu after a quarrel over two-and-half-a-years ago, was reunited with her relatives, thanks to social workers in the village of Narasimharajapura (N.R. Pura) in Karnataka's Chikkamagaluru district. Selvi Venkateshan had travelled on foot to different places over the last 30 months and reached N.R. Pura two weeks ago. She ate when passersby offered her food and slept in public places.
“She was seen in front of a shop in the market place in N.R. Pura two weeks ago, alone, and she remained there for a day. Some youths spoke to her in Kannada, but she replied in Tamil. I spoke to her as I know Tamil and understood that she was from Melakuppam near Virudhachalam in Cuddalore,” said Jubeda, a human rights activist, who ensured Selvi had a bath and new clothes.
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“I put up a post on my Facebook account with her picture on September 12, appealing to my friends to spread the word so that, somehow, her relatives could be found. My classmate Vinod, who works for a bank in Chennai, saw the post and asked a colleague in Cuddalore to help,” Ms. Jubeda said. Her delighted family — had given her up for dead and performed the last rites after waiting for months — was traced with the efforts of many in both Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Selvi’s brother Vijaya Raghavan and sister Vasantha Kumari contacted Jubeda over phone and reached N.R. Pura on Monday. Her husband had passed away; the couple have no children.
N.R. Pura police personnel arranged shelter for Selvi in a vacant shop. Ravi Nidaghatta, Police Sub Inspector of N.R. Pura, told The Hindu on Wednesday: “The woman was taken care of by the local social workers. When her relatives arrived here, we recorded their statement and allowed her go with them.”
A grateful Ms. Vasantha said, “Selvi had the habit of walking for long distances every day. When she was here, she would visit me by walking for 15 km. Like that, she wandered to different places over two-and-half-years.” Selvi, over phone, said, “I am happy now with my family members.”