Tamil Nadu: Bihari woman and baby reunited with family

TIRUCHY: A mentally ill woman from Bihar who went missing along with an eight-month-old baby was rescued in Thanjavur and reunited with her family after treatment for around six months on Tuesday.

It is said that on October 29, 2024, the women’s helpline in Thanjavur received a call about a middle-aged woman from north India found wandering in the Papanasam railway station with a baby.

The information was also shared with the district collector B Priyanka Pankajam, and soon, the woman, along with the baby, was rescued and was admitted to the mental health care.

The woman was then moved to Raja Mirasudar Government Hospital and was undergoing treatment for the past eight months by a team of doctors under the advice of District Mental Health Officer Dr Chithra Devi while an NGO took care of the baby and the woman later.

After she recovered from illness, the officials conducted an inquiry in which they identified her as Munni Devi (30), wife of Prakash from Gondapur village of Nawada District in Bihar.

Munni Devi further told the officials that she got married four years back and a baby girl was born. She had some complications during the delivery, which led her to a mentally ill status. One day, she left her house along with the baby Suhana (now aged one) for Papanasam by train.

Subsequently, the officials commenced tracing Prakash, Munni Devi’s husband, and the intensive search yielded fruit, and Prakash was called on to the Thanjavur Collectorate.

On Tuesday, Collector Priyanka Pankajam handed over the woman and baby to Prakash in the presence of officials.

“Soon after Munni Devi was missing from our house, we were searching for her everywhere, but in vain. We also had complained to the local police, who registered a case, and they were also searching for her. However, we are elated that she, along with the baby, was rescued in Tamil Nadu and they were safely handed over to us,” Prakash said after receiving the wife and the baby.