Five years after disappearing, Andhra man found in Goa, reunited with his family

Then 21-year-old M Sudheer Kumar wandered out of his home at Siripuram village in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh and remained untraceable though his family continued to look for him in all the major cities of of the state and even neighbouring Telangana

A little over five years ago, 21-year-old M Sudheer Kumar wandered out of his home at Siripuram village in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh and remained untraceable though his family continued to look for him in all the major cities of of the state and even neighbouring Telangana.

M Sudheer Kumar with his father upon their reunion on Wednesday evening. (HT photo)

Little did the family know that Kumar had walked all the way to Goa. While it is not clear what he did for the first two years, he had been in the care of Home for the Homeless in Margao, south Goa, which is run by an NGO, Street Providence. It is here that Kumar’s father, M Nageshwar Rao, came to take him home.

Sudheer was found loitering around the Holy Spirit Church by Maria Ana, a volunteer of the NGO. “Sudheer never ever spoke from the time we picked him. He only shook his head when spoken to. But he understands English, Hindi and Telugu. The only time we heard him speak was in early 2018 when he answered a few questions when spoken to in Telugu,” Donald Fernandes who runs Street Providence told HT.

With Sudheer refusing to speak or communicate, no one knew where he hailed from or if he had a family back home. However, something changed earlier this and he began to react to those around him.

“When we picked him up, he was unkempt. All he did was eat, sleep and gaze into the oblivion,” Fernandes said.

“During the last seven days, he started talking, reacting and began mumbling responses. But since even the Telugu translator couldn’t understand his mumblings, he asked Sudheer to write down what he wanted to say. At that, Sudheer wrote down the name of his village and district,” Fernandes said.

“Sudheer Kumar, Medikonduru Mandal, Siripuram village, Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh,” he wrote. The NGO then posted about him on social media and reached out to Telugu associations.

Sudheer’s father said, “We first got a call from an election official via the panchayat that a young man had been found and we were put in touch. They also sent us a video of him to confirm whether it is the same boy... His mother back home can’t wait to get to see him.”

The family says that Sudheer had a normal childhood and studied in school until his Standard XII besides also helping his father who runs a milk collection centre in his hometown. “He was just like any other child growing up but after his class 12, something went wrong,” Rao said, trying to explain his son’s illness.

Meanwhile, the NGO is happy they could find Sudheer’s family for him. “It’s all the grace of God. We are just tools and we don’t claim any credit for the results. These services are tough yet achievable,” Fernandes said.