Bengal mother gets her son back in Kozhikode

KOZHIKODE: Sumithra, an illiterate woman from Burdwan district of West Bengal, didn’t hear about Kerala. Nor she boarded a train or seen cities. But on Thursday, she reached Kozhikode, coming all the way from West Bengal to bring back her son. Babu Kshetrapal (26) ended up at Government Mental Health Centre (GMHC) Kuthiravattom on December 10 in an unconscious condition.

He came to Kerala in search of a job through his friend who was sweating it out at Tirur. But he lost way and reached Koyilandy in an intoxicated condition as a result of using pan mixed with liquor. At GMHC, a retired officer of the home ministry, M. Shivan, came as his saviour and both exchanged words in Bengali. Soon, Babu’s whereabouts were traced, and Sumithra called upon. Another inmate, Ashish Khurai, who hails from Purulia, neighbouring district of Burdwan, was also sent home with them.

“Babu was normal, and his only problem was pan-chewing. He had promised to the doctors and his mother that he would never touch it,” said Mr Shivan. Sumithra was holding a picture of her son with which she had been searching for him. Ashish was under treatment at a mental institute in Ranchi, and he had left his home without completing the medication. “Both hail from poor families that they did not even have the train fare to return,” said Shobitha Thoppil, the psychiatric counsellor at GMHC. The trio left for their home state Thursday evening.