Chennai: N. Ringu, a 27-year-old inmate of a home for mentally ill in Salem is temperamental. He had thrashed the staff with a stick, when they were keen on knowing his whereabouts. But the tolerant staff members of an NGO Little Hearts, who gathered bits and pieces of information about Ringu, were elated on Sunday as it was a day of 'reunion.'
Ringu, a polio affected person, was found in a disturbed condition in Salem General Hospital in 2015. However, it was the intervention of the State Crime Records Bureau (SCRB) that gave a positive turn to the Ringu's story. The department had coordinated with the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit of Salem and traced Ringu's address, some 2,100 km away - in Azamgarh district of Uttar Pradesh. The search mission to reunite the missing people with their families was started by the ADGP Seema Agarwal. It has now been extended to other districts of Tamil Nadu.
Faizul Razwan, Project in-charge, Little Hearts said, "He could walk only with the help of a walker. He gave little information when asked persistently. It took us years to get the basic details, after regular counseling and giving medication.”
Inspector A.S. Thahira from the SCRB said, "We had contacted the police stations in Azamargh district to trace Ringu's address. The department has thus completed 100 reunions."
For the first time in years, there was a smile on Ringu's face, as he slowly recognised his brother, Pintu, who came from Mumbai to take him home. It was a soul stirring moment for not just Ringu's brother, but also for police officials and social workers. Ringu went missing in 2014. “He was helping out my parents, who were cooks in the Sarthak village of Uttar Pradesh. We had lodged a missing complaint in the local police station, but couldn't advertise due to financial constraints,” Pintu said. Ringu waved hands to say goodbye to the employees of Little Hearts home, the scene that touched the team, who had only witnessed his violent part till Sunday.
