CHANDIGARH: A Tamil Nadu man who went missing 23 years ago after leaving home following a quarrel with his younger brother has reunited with his 68-year-old mother in Punjab after being rescued from alleged bonded labour.
Prakaasam, now known as Prakash, left his home in Coimbatore in 2003 at the age of 16. He made one phone call from Chennai about two months later and then disappeared. His family searched for him for years before presuming he was dead.
According to Sukhpal Singh of Apna Farz Seva Society in Patiala, Prakash was rescued in 2022 after a video allegedly showing him being held captive at a dairy farm near Amritsar, close to the Indo-Pakistan border, surfaced. He was brought to the NGO's shelter home in Lachkani village.
The NGO alleged that Prakash had been held as a bonded labourer for more than 18 years. He was allegedly forced to work without wages under CCTV surveillance during the day and was locked in a room and chained at night, where he slept with cattle. He was given only two meals a day while looking after livestock.
The NGO said Prakash had lost his mental balance because of the conditions in which he was allegedly confined. As his condition gradually improved, he could utter only fragments such as "Tamil Nadu" and "Prakasam", making it difficult to trace his family.
In 2023, retired Haryana Vidhan Sabha official Subhash Chander, who was counselling inmates at the shelter, began efforts to identify Prakash with the help of his contacts in Chennai and journalist Muthaiah from Palladam in Tiruppur district.
On July 1, Muthaiah traced Prakash's mother, Sundari, living about 25 km from his native village, and informed her that her son was alive and in Punjab.
Sundari then approached Coimbatore District Collector Pawan Kumar G. Kiriappanavar, who coordinated with Patiala Deputy Commissioner Himanshu Aggarwal to verify the family's identity using school and labour department records.
Aggarwal said arrangements were immediately made to confirm their identity after coordination with the Coimbatore administration. The reunion took place on July 28. He added that an investigation into Prakash's alleged bonded labour would be conducted and compensation would be arranged for the family.
Earlier this month, Prakash's younger brother Prabhu travelled to Punjab to meet him. Despite being separated for 23 years, Prakash immediately recognised him and embraced him.
On July 27, Sundari, Prabhu and journalist Muthaiah visited the Apna Farz Seva Society. They also approached the Chandigarh Tamil Sangam, whose volunteers arranged the meeting between Prakash and his family in the presence of police and district officials.
Overcome with emotion, Sundari hugged her son and bent down to touch his feet.
"I feel very happy and it feels as though the god we worship has come home in the form of our son," she said before feeding Prakasam with her own hands.
Prakash's father, Ramamoorthy, who worked as a watchman, died of cancer in 2021. Sundari, now living in Poomalaipatti Anaikulam village in Virudhunagar district, said she had searched for her son for more than two decades.
"We searched for him at several places but could not trace him. Despite earnest efforts, we could not find him and presumed him dead,” she said.
