Mangalore: Nepali Family Separated in Train, Reunited by White Doves

Brijesh Garodi
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore

Mangalore, Jan 12: This is the true story of a Nepali family that got separated last year, and miraculously, with the help of White Doves NGO, has been reunited now.

It is the story of a family of 7 that lived in Khalanga village of Pyuthan district in Nepal. The family consists of Dilbahadur, his wife Geetha and children Meena, Susheela, Sumithra, Menaka and Tharwin.

Dilbahadur has been working as a security guard in Ernakulam of Kerala for nearly 4 years now. Geetha is a housewife, their daughter Meena and Susheela are married, Sumithra is studying in 10th standard, Menaka in 8th standard and Tharwin is a small child.

Dilbahadur used to visit his family quite often. The family was a happy and contented one, till tragedy struck last year.

Geetha fell ill somewhere around mid-June last year and Dilbahadur left for Nepal on June 26 to see his wife. After being with her for a few days, Dilbahadur came back to Ernakulum, this time bringing Geetha and Tharwin along.

They boarded the train to Ernakulam from Nepal in the first week of August. On the way, an unknown person befriended Geetha and offered her a drink, and most probably this was what turned around their lives for the worse.

After Geetha consumed the drink, she totally lost control over herself and was afflicted with what could be only termed as a mental illness.  When the train stopped for a minute at a small station, Geetha got down from the train to drink water. Dilbhadur, on noticing that there were no shops around, asked Geetha not to get down.

Paying no heed to his pleas, Geetha alighted from the train and broke into a run for no apparent reason. Startled, Dilbahadur followed her with his son on his arms, and luggage in the train.

As it was dark with no adequate lights at the station, Dilbahadur was unable to trace his wife. He wandered around with his young son for almost five days in search of his lost wife, but in vain.

He was later found by Thalassery police who admitted him to an ashram and his son to an orphanage. Dilbahadur was in a state of shock and unable to recall what exactly had taken place. For a while, his story remained untold.

He then tried to escape from the ashram but unfortunately for him, he tripped over the stairs and was admitted to hospital, and was back in police custody.

However, by then he was able to give enough information to the police, who started investigating. The police were successful in tracing a person identified as Prakash Kumar, who had earlier referred Dilbhadur for watchman's work in Ernakulam.

Prakash was a neighbor of Dilbahadur, working as a marketing supervisor in a management college in Kannur. He intervened in the matter to get Dilbahadur out of police custody, and also got back his son Tharwin from the orphanage.

Tharwin was sent back to his native and Dilbahadur resumed work in the same security agency after he recovered completely. However, his hopes of seeing his wife again began to dim, as even the best of efforts to trace her bore no fruit.

What happened to Geetha?

In the first week of August last year, Pandeshwar police here took a woman found wandering on the road side to White Doves home near Mannagudda. Corrine Rasquinha, director of White Doves took her into her care.
The woman was found with grave injuries on her head, hands and legs. She was not in a state to respond to questions and was admitted to a private hospital. Even after recovery, she could not recall how she had reached Mangalore, but was able to identify herself as Geetha and give her address in Nepal.

Speaking to Daijiworld, Corrine said that when she asked Geetha about her family, she vaguely replied that her son was 'beheaded' at a temple and her husband had been 'beaten to death'.

What happened to Geetha from the moment she got down from the train, or how she managed to reach Mangalore, still remains a mystery. However, it was her luck that she found herself under the care of White Doves.

The White Doves then contacted the Nepal police who traced helped trace her family. Dilbahadur was contacted and he rushed to Mangalore with renewed hopes and dreams. The entire family including the children was back together again. It was nothing less than rebirth for the couple and their children who got back their mother.

Their story, nothing short of a miracle, makes one wonder how many Dilbahadurs and Geethas may be out there, having gone through tough times and unable to even recall their past. We often see destitutes on streets and more often avoid them, or at most give them some change and move on, but if we were to dig deeper, there would be a heart-touching stories behind those dejected faces.