Teen unites 13-year-old with his father after 9 years

SURAT: One went missing when he came in search for work while another fled his house to escape the daily torture of his step-father. But the two Assam teens -16-year-old Abdul Gaffar and 13-year-old Deep Bora - have scripted a poignant story of friendship during their stay in a city-based children protection home.
In fact, Abdul was so pained by the tragic happenings in Deep's life that he pledged to unite him with his real father. Showing immense grit and determination, Abdul successfully traced Deep's father in an Assam village.

On Thursday, the fatherson duo had a tearful reunion after nine years, thanks to Abdul's efforts. Abdul had come to Surat in search of work from Mumbai in July but got lost as he could not contact his relatives. Police found him at the railway station and took him to V R Popawala Children Home in Katargam. Here, he shared the room with Deep.

"However, within a fortnight, his uncle was traced in Surat and Abdul was handed over to him," said Ramesh Khadsaliya, administrator of the child home.

But in this brief stay of 15 days together, Abdul was deeply pained by Deep's traumatic childhood and promised to unite him with his father.

In 2009, when Deep was just five years old, his mother had eloped with another man, taking him and his two brothers along. However, their step-father started torturing them and his elder brother Ajay first escaped and returned to his father in their native Langhin Tiniali village of Karbi Anglong district in 2015.

Can't thank Abdul enough, says boy's dad

Soon after, Deep also fled, but reached Uttar Pradesh using different modes of transport. He spent several months at Moradabad in UP working at a cattle farm.

Here too, the owner started harassing him and Deep fled to Mumbai. After working at a tea stall for a few months, he boarded atrain thinking it would go to Assam. However, he reached Surat and was rescued near the railway station and brought to the Katargam facility in July.

After reaching Assam earlier this month, Abdul travelled nearly 100 km to Deep's native Langhin Tiniali to trace his father. The only information he had was a sketchy description about the house that Deep had given him. He failed to find him on the first day, but stayed overnight and continued the search. Finally, he traced Samar and made him talk with Deep over phone in Surat.

"I can't believe that efforts of teenager had helped me see my son again in this life. I can't thank Abdul enough for his help," said Samar.