Kanpur man reunites with family after over a decade

KANPUR: Mental illness triggered by head injury and trauma of the death of his loved ones, including his mother, in a house collapse, separated a Kanpur man from his family 11 years ago as he reached Mumbai travelling in trains somehow and lived on the streets of the country’s financial capital, till he was rescued by an NGO.
There was happiness and joy on the face of 45-year-old Naeem as he was reunited with his family on Saturday.
Naeem, a resident of Chotey Miyan Ka Hata in the Colonelganj area, had gone missing in 2009 and could not be traced by his family.
Members of Shraddha Rehabilitation, a non-governmental organisation, rescued Naeem in 2020 from Mumbai streets.
“We had rescued Naeem in March 2020. After six to seven months of rigorous treatment by our psychiatric experts, he recovered and gradually opened up and started talking. Naeem then told us about the house collapse of 2009, wherein his family members including his mother died, while he suffered critical head injury. One day, Naeem left from his home and somehow reached Mumbai by travelling in several trains,” said Dr Bharat Vatwani, trustee of Shraddha Rehabilitation.
“When I learnt that he was from Kanpur, I assured him of reuniting him with his family. Finally, a group of volunteers took Naeem to his family on Saturday,” he added.
Naeem’s brother Mohd Naseem expressed gratitude to the NGO for taking care of his brother and reuniting them. “We searched for him everywhere but could not find him,” he said.
“He must have boarded a train and finally reached Mumbai. We are very happy that he is back with us now, and is also fully cured of his mental illness,” he added.