CHENNAI: For almost four years, Radheshyam’s two children were repeatedly made to believe that their father would return home in a week. It finally came true on Thursday! Thanks to the initiative of the State Crime Records Bureau of the state police which managed to trace his family back in Uttar Pradesh, he was rescued last year in Chengalpattu nearly four years after the mentally ill 30-year-old went missing.
On receiving a complaint from the public last year about a man loitering and performing somersaults, the Kolapakkam police rescued and admitted him in the Little Hearts home at Panaiyur. It was none other than Radheshyam but proved to be very difficult to ascertain his identity as well as that of his family.
“Initially, he used to walk around with a rod and chase people. Until three months back, his behaviour was unpredictable but psychiatric treatment helped,” said I Rita Ayyappan, of Little Hearts.
“Slowly, he started asking for his family,” said Rita adding that three months ago, he managed to recollect the address of his house at Lallapur village in Pindra Tehsil near Varanasi. And the State Crime Record Bureau was informed and efforts were made to reach out to his relatives through the Uttar Pradesh police.
“There were many difficulties starting from communication with the Uttar Pradesh officials who could speak only in Hindi and convincing that Radheshyam is still alive. When I finally managed to speak to the family, the first question from them was when they can come to meet him,” said an official with the bureau who coordinated the effort.
“They sounded like a long and anxious wait, hoping somebody would call or at least pass some message about the man. His wife and his children were the ones who were the most eager to meet him,” the official added.
On Thursday, Radheshyam’s uncle Ram Lal Singh and a family friend reached the Kancheepuram collectorate where the Little Hearts staff have taken the man. “He had left home to meet his aunty. He should have accidentally boarded a wrong train and reached Tamil Nadu. We assumed he would return soon since he had done so earlier. But only after the passing of a year, we realised he wast lost,” Ram Lal Singh told Express.
The family admitted that Radheshyam was having mental health issues for last 15 years but got married to Malathi about eight years ago. The couple had two children – aged three and one – when he left home.
Radheshayam’s reunion with his family was the fruit of the initiative of the State Crime Records Bureau in coordination with NGOs across the state. A training programme was conducted for 113 NGOs, which were asked to provide details of wandering persons whom they have rescued.
“The process of reuniting them starts after collecting details of those who are willing to return. But we ensure the family is ready to accept the lost person,” said a senior police officer.