TIRUPATI: Bakthula Sreenu and his family members’ joy knew no bounds when his wife Bakthula Rama Lakshmi, a mentally unsound woman who left home and has been missing for the last five years, was reunited with her family on August 10. The entire villagers were present when a social worker of Udavum Karangal, a NGO based in Chennai, took her to her native place in Mylavaram in Kadapa district.
Rama Lakshmi, 38, was identified and rescued by Udavum Karangal, a year back. On January 10, 2021, Gomathy Saravanan, a social worker of Udavum Karangal, found Rama Lakshmi wandering on the streets of Ambattur and shifted her to NGO’s home.
Rama Lakshmi, who was all good fell mentally ill on one fine day due to sudden change of events, came out of the house without informing anyone. From that day, the family members were frantically searching for her. Her husband even thought she was no more.
“She was under NGO’s home care for nearly 20 months with medication as she was unable to recall her family and address. During this period, Rama Lakshmi was given counselling by a psychotherapist which finally helped her to restore her memory and recall her past,” Srinivas Rao, the NGO worker who dropped Rama Lakshmi in her native place, told TNIE.
“Prognosis of Rama Lakshmi is such that she had even remembered the shortcut routes of her home through the agricultural fields which she used to roam in her childhood on our way back to her native village,” Srinivas Rao added. Rama Lakshmi’s husband Sreenu said: “We (family) are happy that my wife is reunited with the family. Now, she is mentally sound and performs daily chores at home.”
“With the little information gathered from her, Srinivasa Rao initially reached out to her brother, who was not ready to come and receive her. But through the local police, we found her husband’s phone number and he immediately wanted to accept her. Her husband gave information that she had psychiatric problems for the past eight years and was missing for the past five years. We informed him that she was rescued by Udavum Karangal one year back and she was even eager to reunite with her family,” said Vidyaakar, founder of Udavum Karangal.