Specially abled boy in R'sthan's child care home finally meets family in Punjab

Jaipur, August 9

Resembling the storyline of Bollywood flick Bajrangi Bhaijaan, a 14-year-old deaf and dumb boy found at Jodhpur railway station has finally met his family in Tarn Taran district of Punjab.

The boy had been staying at a Jodhpur childcare institute since July 2020 where he was being counselled and had become quite active there.

"The boy was smart despite being specially abled and after a few counselling sessions, he started participating in all activities of the child care institute," Sangeeta Beniwal, chairperson of the Rajasthan Commission for Protection of Child Rights, told IANS.

"Gopi was brought to the shelter in Jodhpur in July 2020. For the first few months, he did not divulge much information about himself. Gradually, he opened up and started sharing details.

"Recently, during my visit to the centre, he showed happiness looking at a turban. Then he was shown a Golden Temple picture and he started doing bhangra. He was then shown a Punjab folk dress and a 'Kirpan' and the boy became very happy," she said.

Eventually, the team decided to take him to Punjab. He was taken to Amritsar and the boy recalled the place. In writing, he asked the team to take him to the bus stop. From there, he asked the team to take him to Tarn Taran bus stop.

After reaching the bus stop, a bus driver identified him as the bus was going to his native village. Soon the boy reached the village where everyone identified him.

He was taken to his mother who hugged him with tears of joy.

The villagers said that after the boy went missing, his parents had reported it to the police, but they were unable to find him due to which the case was eventually closed.

The boy's father, unable to bear the trauma of losing his only child, fell ill and died a few months ago.

Officials said that his parents did not allow him to go anywhere alone, however, a village foreman under a false pretext, took Gopi along with him and made him work for an entire day in July last year.

Following this, the boy was in a dilemma of whether he should go back home or not and then decided to board a train and landed in Jodhpur. IANS

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