From Patna to Ludhiana, a 19-year-old’s search for her husband

Married at the age of 15, and now a mother of two, a 19-year-old woman from Bihar travelled all alone from Patna to Ludhiana — without any money, a mobile phone or even a train ticket — in search of her husband. All that she knew was that her husband worked in a factory in Salem Tabri area of Ludhiana.

Armed with just that one piece of information, the woman arrived in the industrial city of Ludhiana on Sunday and started a search, rather aimlessly, for her husband.

Luckily, she soon bumped into a local man, Budh Dev, who had seen the woman roaming around helplessly in the streets of Salem Tabri, desperately trying to find her husband.

Budh Dev told the police that when he asked the woman for details of her husband, she wasn’t able to tell him much except for an incomplete mobile number.

“Seeing the woman in trouble, Budh Dev took her back to his house and gave her food and shelter. He also introduced her to his family, before approaching the police the next day. He later brought the woman to us. We initially prodded the woman about her background and her husband’s details. But she did not reveal much. All she told us was that she was married five years ago and had two children. Some months ago, she claimed, that she had a fight with her husband, following which the man left her with her parents in Bihar and said that he won’t take her back. He deserted her and their two kids. Then she decided to travel all alone from Patna and come to Ludhiana in search of him,” said Additional DCP Pragya Jain, of Ludhiana city police.

The officer added that the woman decided to travel all alone to Ludhiana, without even informing her parents, or carrying any money or even a mobile phone with her.

“All that she had was a nine-digit phone number of her husband. That was our only clue. We started searching for him and showed her some pictures, while tracing the number. Finally, she identified one of the photos as that of her husband. We then found that the man was enrolled as a worker in a local iron factory and we traced his location. In the next 6-7 hours, the couple was reunited,” said the ADCP.

Jain said that initially the man refused to accept the woman and said that he doesn’t want to live with her. But with the help of some locals and police, the couple was counselled. “They are living together now and will bring their children back from Bihar soon.”