ERODE: A mental health rehabilitation beneficiary from Madhya Pradesh, who was receiving care at a shelter in Talavadi, of Erode district, has reunited with his family after 12 years.
According to the police sources, in 2014, four individuals with mental disorders, including N Ashik Kumar (38), of Babera in Balaghat District in Madhya Pradesh, were found wandering near the court campus in Gobichettipalayam in Erode district. Seeing this, the Lions Club administrators filed a case in court, obtaining an order to place them in a shelter. Subsequently, when steps were taken to admit them to Nazareth Illam in Talavadi, two of them were taken by their families.
Subsequently, only two people, including Ashik, were admitted to the shelter.
"Through continuous treatment, rehabilitation services, counselling, and compassionate care provided by Nazareth Illam over the years, Ashik gradually recovered and regained stability in his life. Subsequent efforts undertaken by Fr Arun Kumar, Director of the Home to trace his identity and family members proved successful. After 12 years of separation, Ashik is now being formally handed over to his parents and family members, on Friday, marking an emotional and joyful reunion," a statement by Nazareth Illam said.
"Ashik Kumar comes from a lower-middle class family and he has a younger brother and sister. After completing Class 12, he studied till first year of ITI after which he went missing in 2010. A missing case was registered with the Balaghat district police in 2010. However, Ashik did not remember how he had come to Gobichettipalayam," a police officer told TNIE.
"He recovered from the treatment he received at the shelter. From the time of admission to the shelter, he had allegedly not spoken to anyone for a long time. So, no one knew what his mother language was. Ashik doesn't know Tamil. He only replied in English, occasionally with a few words, and that too only over the past few months. Recently, when someone in the shelter spoke in Hindi, Ashik approached him and spoke in Hindi, which is when realisation dawned" the officer added.
"Fr Arun Kumar asked Ashik to write on a sheet in Hindi. Since he did not know Hindi, he uploaded what Ashik had written to AI platform ChatGPT and translated it. Only after that did he learn the full details about Ashik. Fr Arun Kumar then approached the police of both states for assistance. He was handed over to his family in the presence of Balaghat police officials on Friday after necessary identity verification," he added.
Fr Arun Kumar, a team of Talavadi police, led by constable A Martin, and administrators of the shelter were present during the event.