More than two years after she went missing from her home at Arakkambakkam near Chennai, a woman said to be mentally ill and who was in a home for orphans in Pudukottai district was finally reunited with her family.
Social media was the tool which paved the way for the family of the missing woman in getting to know about her whereabouts eventually leading to an emotional reunion here on Wednesday. Shanthi- a widow left her home in March 2018 and went missing thereafter. With frantic search on the lookout for Shanthi proving futile, her family thereafter preferred a complaint with the Muthapudupet police station in Chennai. The woman who was found wandering at Erode in October 2019 was rescued by a social worker who contacted V. Maheswari, the managing director of Nesakkaram Home for Orphans at Mettupatti in Pudukottai district as she knew her.
“Shanthi was brought the same month by the social worker from Erode to our home and she was under our care and protection since then,” said Maheswari. “Repeated attempts by us to ascertain from Shanthi to know about her family did not succeed as the woman was unable to respond to our queries concretely as she was mentally ill,” Ms. Maheswari further said adding that the woman was taken to a psychiatrist in Pudukottai for consultation.
Maheswari said Shanthi’s 19-year-old son Aravind contacted her in March after noticing a woman with striking resemblance of his mother while watching a video posted in the Youtube. The physical features and description given by the woman’s son over phone matched with that of Shanthi, said Maheswari.
However, the family of Shanthi could not make a visit to the home since the lockdown was clamped by then. “Nevertheless, they stayed in touch with us over phone”, said Maheswari adding that she had asked them to bring relevant documents in support of proof and a photograph of the missing woman.
“A couple of days ago, the woman’s son called us to say that they had obtained e-pass to come to Pudukottai. After verifying the relevant documents including the woman’s Aadhaar card and the First Information Report, her voter ID, her photograph and the Aadhaar card of Aravind, we allowed them to meet her,” Maheswari said. Shanthi’s son Aravind, and the woman’s mother and younger brother had come to take her. Shanthi could recognise her mother and her younger brother. The woman was reunited with her family on Wednesday after obtaining an undertaking from them, says Maheswari.