BELAGAVI: The 'lost and found' story finally had an happy ending, in which the nine tiny tots, which were found alone and helpless in Khanapur jungles near Olmani village on April 21, were handed over to their parents hailing from a tribal community, at the premises of Woman and Child Welfare Department (W&CWD) office in Belagavi on Wednesday.
The children belonged to Vijay Nikkam, Ankush Nikkam and Ganpati Pawar. Their community had camped at Bailur, which is about 8 km from the spot where the children were found.
Speaking to Express, Dattu Nikkam, one of the tribal community members said that it is common for the people of the tribe to leave their children at the camp and go to work for their daily bread. They seemingly store food and water for the children before going to work.
Nikkam said, that day the water stored in the camp was sufficient for just one of the children due to which nine of them went in search of water without informing other children in camp.
A couple of them knew there was a river near to the camp, so they went in that direction. Though the children lost their way, they had reached the river at Habanatti village, which is around 4 to 5 km from the camp. The children, after satisfying their thirst, were unable to find their direction to the camp. They continued walking until they reached Olmani village. As it was already late, the terrified children took shelter under the bus stop shed. The villagers passing on the road spotted the children and informed police.
Parents starve due to missing children
"We could not eat and sleep for three days, as we were searching for our missing children and did not even go for work,' said Gauri Nikkam, mother of two among the children. Speaking to Express, Gauri with teary eyes said, she and her group members do not have Aadhar or Ration cards.
She was afraid that the concerned officials will not hand over the children to her and was seen literally begging to the concerned authorities of W&CWD.
Communication gap due to language problem created hurdles for the concerned authorities to convince her that they have to complete formalities before handing over the children.