Mentally Challenged Teen Returns Home 5 Years After Going Missing In Floods

A 17-year-old girl, who had gone missing in the devastating floods that hit the Indian state of Uttarakhand in 2013, reunited with her family Monday.

Chanchal, the mentally challenged and visually impaired girl, had gone on a pilgrimage to Kedarnath, Uttarakhand, with her family when the tragedy struck. While her mother returned home after a few days, her father is still missing.

Gyanendra Mishra from Childline India, a charitable trust, said, “The girl lost track of her family and reached a shelter home in Jammu as she was not able to speak clearly and could not give out detail of her family and home city initially. Police from Jammu brought her to Aligarh on Monday and handed her over to her grandmother Shakuntla Devi.”

Her family, however, was initially not too keen on taking her back and cited poverty as the reason for the hesitation.

“We are happy to have her back after five years, but are now wondering if she’s better off at a hostel. We can’t take care of her properly, we don’t even have a toilet at home. The women go to a public toilet nearby, but she can’t be sent alone as she wanders off,” said Mohan Kumar, Chanchal’s uncle, local daily the Indian Express reported.

He said the girl's parents, Rajesh and Seema, had left Aligarh a decade back and settled in Ghaziabad.

“They never visited us after that. Following the tragedy, Seema, who was left alone returned to Ghaziabad but did not contact us. Chanchal is a part of our family, but because of her disabilities, we will not be able to take care of her. Keeping a 17-year-old girl in her condition with us is a difficult task,” he said, local daily the Times Of India reported.

However, the family changed their mind after Childline India assured to look after her if any problem arises.

“It is true that Chanchal’s family had earlier refused to keep her with them. However, after we counselled them, they accepted. In case they still have problems, she will be shifted to a shelter home in the state,” Mishra said.

Though information related to what happened to the girl after the floods and before she arrived at Jammu is not known, Mishra said, “She was found by some good Samaritans after the floods and sent to the orphanage in Jammu. For the last few months, staff of Childline Jammu found that she was trying to communicate her family’s address to them through her limited verbal skills.”

She, however, mentioned Aligarh several times and accordingly, the Childline Jammu staff contacted local legislator Sanjiv Raja. Social activists then located her house.

“It has been a long process and she has had a difficult life. It would be good if she could stay with her family,” Mishra added.