A 25-year-old woman, who boarded a train to Mumbai while playing at Ayodhya railway station in Uttar Pradesh, has reunited with her family after 14 years.
Pooja Subodh Verma, who grew up in an orphanage in Nerul, had been on a mission to find her parents for the past few years. In 2003, after Ms. Verma reached Mumbai, the police spotted her wandering in the railway station and admitted her into the orphanage.
In 2009, Ms. Verma began working as a domestic help at the house of Nitin and Sunita Gaikwad, a couple living in Nerul. Mr. Gaikwad said, “She told us how she had lost her way, but remembered the names of her parents, Subodh and Meera, and brother, Alok. She also said that she remembered that their house in Ayodhya was located near Sarayu river and a Ram temple. She said that her father owned a shop of garlands and audio cassettes.”
Mr. Gaikwad and local activist Girish Patil contacting Uttar Pradesh police and began a search for Ms. Verma’s parents in Ayodhya. They then approached Santosh Tiwari, an officer of the Anti-Terrorism Squad in Lucknow, who assigned the task to his team.
The police went through voters lists in Ayodhya and Faizabad, but couldn’t trace the family. On November 5, Ms. Verma decided to visit Ayodhya and start her own search. She walked along the banks of Sarayu river and in a few hours managed to locate her house at Naya Ghat and find her family.
Ms. Verma’s father, Subodh, said, “This is the happiest moment of my life. I got my daughter back. I don’t want anything else from the almighty now.”
Ms. Verma then called Mr. Gaikwad and Mr. Patil and shared the joy of finding her parents. Mr. Tiwari said, “We are happy to hear that she has safely reached her home.” One of the members of Ms. Verma’s family said, “We searched for her for weeks after she went missing. Some people said she drowned in the river and then we stopped the search.”
