MEDAK : In 2014, a 19-year-old engineering student dissolved into the shadows, convinced his dreams were a burden too heavy for his father’s two-acre farm. For his father, Srinivas Rao, the years that followed were a blur of unanswered pleas — until April’s desperate appeal to Medak police sparked a digital hunt that spanned states.
When officers finally led Kunamaneni Teja Sai home, the village witnessed more than a reunion; they saw a parable of resilience, where a father’s unwavering hope outgrew the roots of loss.
According to Superintendent of Police Uday Kumar, Sai disappeared from his home in Lakshminagar village, Papannapet mandal, on September 7, 2014. Sai, deeply aware of his family’s financial burden, quietly decided to leave home in hopes of becoming self-reliant.
Despite the family lodging a missing person complaint in 2014 and scouring relatives’ homes and friends’ circles, there was no trace of Sai. On April 3 this year, a visibly aged Srinivas approached the SP once again, requesting the police to trace his son. Taking the appeal to heart, the police reopened the case and, with the help of technology and information from Sai’s old friends, tracked him to Bengaluru.
A special team was sent to the city, where they located Sai and brought him back to Medak. What followed was a scene of overwhelming emotion — parents and son embracing after over a decade apart, a moment of pure joy and tears.
Speaking to the media, Uday Kumar said: “Sai left home not out of rebellion, but out of a desire to lessen his parents’ burden. While leaving without informing them was wrong, his intention was to stand on his own. Today, in an age where some children ask their parents how much they’ve saved for them, Sai’s story stands apart — it speaks of sacrifice and resilience.”