Kolkata: A woman from Bihar, in her late 30s, has been reunited with her family in Bihar after nearly two decades, thanks to efforts by amateur radio enthusiasts and staff at the Howrah district hospital in West Bengal.
On August 13, 2016, policemen rescued an unconscious woman from the pavement and got her admitted to the Howrah district hospital. After she regained consciousness, doctors realised that she was suffering from some sort of a mental ailment. She was then locked up in a ward meant for such patients.
“She was admitted under the name Guria. She spent over eight years in total isolation as patients of that ward do. Fortunately, she responded to treatment and was declared fully cured. The only problem with many people of her kind is that they lose their memories and can’t remember their home addresses. Due to this, many have to spend the rest of their lives at mental asylums and government homes. Some of them even fall victim to various kinds of exploitation,” said Ambarish Nag Biswas, secretary, West Bengal Radio Club (WBRC), an organisation of amateur radio buffs.
Nag Biswas was contacted by Asha Majhi, a social worker, on the behest of Narayan Chatterjee, superintendent of the hospital. Hospital authorities provided him with a photograph of the woman and urged him to track the family if possible. Over the last few years, the WBRC has reunited hundreds of such people with their families, by making use of its vast network, stretching across India and beyond her shores.
“Before long, we were able to trace her family to Madhopur in the Sitamarhi district of Bihar. Her father Shiv Dayal Paswan (80), is visually impaired but other relatives identified the photograph as that of Nagina Devi. On hearing this, Paswan broke down, demanding that we send his daughter back immediately. He would like to meet her at least once before his death, he said,” Nag Biswas said.
His team also learnt that Guria alias Nagina was married to one Sanjay Paswan of Kishanpur in the same district. They had a son named Rohit, who is now 20-years-old.
“The elderly gentleman said that Nagina got married nearly 25 years ago. Soon after the birth of her child, she developed some kind of a mental ailment and left home and remained untraced till now, despite all efforts. Doctors have said that she may have been a teenager when she became a mother and suffered from postpartum depression. This is quite common. The authorities from both states are now working on ways to hand over Guria alias Nagina to her husband and son,” Nag Biswas added.
