Pics: Abhijith N Kolpe
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (ANK)
Mangaluru, Oct 3: A 28-year-old man who went missing one and half years ago was reunited with his family from Andhra Pradesh Kodur Cuddapah on Saturday October 3. The instance was the city's well known NGO White Doves’ 390th one.
Subramanyam was found near Hotel Ocean Pearl in May 2019. He was then under White Doves’ care by its founder Corrine Rasquinha. Later, he was found mentally unsound and was treated. After one and half year, his brother Venkatesh and his wife along with his friends arrived to Mangaluru to take Subramanyam back to his hometown.
Speaking to Daijiworld.com, Venkatesh said, "We belong from Andhra Pradesh Kodur Cuddapah. Subramanyam was mentally unsound since several years and was getting treated. Later, he went missing. We searched every nook and corner at our place. We even filed a police complaint, but could not locate Subramanyam. We had lost hope that we would find him again. We were in shock when we received a call from White Doves that he had reached Mangaluru which is almost 1,000 km away from our native. We will always be grateful to White Doves for saving my brother and reuniting him with us after one and half years. Our mother always cried thinking about her son. When she came to know about Subramanyam who was traced in Mangaluru, she was very much delighted. She is waiting for his arrival.”
Speaking to Daijiworld.com, White Doves founder Corrine Rasquinha said, "We found Subramanyam outside Hotel Ocean Pearl. He had burnt marks and was later taken with us to get treated. As he was mentally unsound, he was very violent. He recovered later. He was speaking Telugu. Subramanyam gave the contact and some details about his family which was later traced by our manager. We are happy to say that this is the 390th time we are reuniting a lost and found member of a family.”
Jerald Fernandes, manager, White Doves, Jerome Coelho, secretary, White Doves and Sunil Baliga, member, White Doves, were present.
About White Doves
White Doves, an NGO founded by Corrine Rasquinha in the early 1990s with the motto to reach out to the least, last and lost has been running homes for the destitute and mentally challenged since 25 years. Over 600 destitute picked up from the streets of Mangaluru have been rehabilitated and over 195 have been reached back to their homes all over India including Nepal after a total recovery from their mental illness. Presently, there are 150 men, women and children residing in the three homes run by the White Doves at Matadakani, Kulshekar and Jail Road in Mangaluru.
This is the only home of its kind in Mangaluru where the destitute is picked from the streets and nursed back to normalcy and having a licence from the district administration to take care of psychiatric destitute. In addition the White Doves feed over 150 to 200 hungry mouths on the streets on a daily basis. The other works of White doves are building homes for the homeless, educating the poor, providing rations to the marginalised of society and providing succour to the poor patients.
White Doves has rehabilitated over 600 destitute picked up from the streets of Mangaluru and have reunited 390 destitute with their families after treatment all over India including Nepal and Bangladesh.