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How a radio club helped reunite lost Bengal woman with family in Kashmir after a decade
The woman hailing from West Bengal had lost contact with her family as a teenager when a relative of hers took her to Kashmir but returned without her.
A woman hailing from West Bengal, who had been lost for a decade in Kashmir when she was a teeanger, was at last reunited with her family, with the help of police and the instrumental effort of a radio club on Saturday. Now a mother of three children, the woman met her family in a village in Baramulla area.
In a bid to meet her long lost family, the woman with the help of her brother-in-law, had approached the National Commission for Women some time back. However, not remembering much, all she could inform them was that she was from the Sundarbans area in West Bengal and her home had been close to Jaynagar railway station.
‘A collaborative effort’
NCW reached out to police a month ago. The police sought the help of West Bengal Radio Club to deliver the woman’s message to her family. “After getting the preliminary information from Baruipur Women Police Station, we could trace her family in Deulbari village. It comes under the jurisdiction of Kultali police station,” secretary of West Bengal Radio Club, Ambarish Nag Biswas told news agency PTI, crediting the collaborative efforts of the vast network of radio clubs and Kultali police behind the success of the case.
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On June 14, five family members of the woman, including her mother and brother left for Kashmir and they reunited after a decade at the woman’s in-laws' place. “Many police personnel contributed money for the woman’s family’s travel arrangements to help them reunite with their child,” an officer of Kultali station said.
The woman had forgotten her mother tongue over the years, making it difficult to communicate with her. “She cannot speak Bengali now. We spoke to her with the help of a translator,” Biswas said, adding that initially she was unwilling to speak with them as they were strangers. “Radio club members in Kashmir then sent a representative of a local NGO to her house one day…then it became easier for us,” he added.
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‘Lost as a teenager’
The family told PTI that they had lost contact with her after her marriage in Kashmir. However, the radio club’s secretary said that the woman, as a teen, had gone to the northwestern state with a relative who returned without her. He reportedly told her family that he had made arrangements for her and that would be taken care of. The woman’s husband is a health department employee in Kashmir.
The family struggled financially and had been dependent on that relative to meet their needs. They initially did not question him over their daughter but later after failing to get information about her whereabouts despite repeated attempts, they snapped ties with him.
However, no complaint was lodged with the local police at that time, PTI reported.
