15 years after going missing and 10 years after ‘pinda daan’, Bihar youth reunites with mom in West Bengal
Times of India | 15 April 2025
KOLKATA: Howrah Hospital witnessed an emotional moment on Thursday when a woman from Bhagalpur, Bihar, was reunited with her son, whom she had presumed dead after he went missing 15 years ago.
The woman, who had even offered her son's "pinda" at Gaya, believing him to be dead, broke down in tears when she held the 22-year-old youth's hands.
After seven-year-old Sagar Mondal went missing from his village, Devri Maheshpur, his mother Jhaji Devi, who did odd jobs in agricultural fields, searched for him for years.
When the search yieled nothing, villagers presumed him dead. Trouble started when local boys complained of "feeling his presence" while they played in the afternoon.
Although his mother refused to believe Sagar was dead, village elders said it was his "ghost" which was troubling the kids. A panchayat meeting was called, and, unable to resist the village elders, Jhaji offered "pinda" for him at Gaya nearly 10 years ago.
Nobody knew how Sagar reached Howrah, but staff at Howrah District Hospital said he was brought in after an accident. While Sagar recovered, he lost his memory. Amateur radio operators learned about him and started searching with his photograph. Finally, a local at Devri Maheshpur saw a resemblance between the photograph and that of the boy lost 15 years ago.
"Having a resemblance with the photograph is not the only criterion for identifying a missing person," said Ambarish Nag Biswas, founder, West Bengal Radio Club. "We also look for other factors, such as body art or injury marks."
Biswas spoke to the current head of the panchayat, Ashok Chowdhary, and learned that the villagers were not willing to take Sagar back. "Once the pinda was offered, accepting him as a living person was not an option for the villagers," Nag Biswas said. "However, the panchayat head is a reasonable man, and he spoke with temple priests. It was decided that Sagar could be taken back after the family decided to feed 100 Brahmins and offer daan to them."
While Chowdhary came to the rescue of the poor family, the Howrah police and hospital administration also offered financial help. "We are happy that the youth could finally return to his mother. He cannot recognise her now, but we hope his memory will return," Nag Biswas told TOI.