5 YEARS ON, ELDERLY WOMAN’S SEARCH FOR MISSING DAUGHTER CONTINUES
When Shanti Devi, an elderly woman, visited Maa Vindhyavasini Mahila Evam Balika Sanrakshan Grih in September 2013 to admit her 25-year-old mentallychallenged daughter there, she did not know it would be hard for her to see her again. Shanti Devi, who is in her 60s, said she had to admit her daughter to the shelter home due to family problems but when she returned to meet her, shelter home manager Girija Tripathi said her daughter had escaped from there.
“I visited the shelter home to take my daughter back with me but its manager did not allow me to meet her. Later, the shelter home staff told me that my daughter has escaped from the home,” said Devi, who resides in Bhatni area of Deoria. She said she approached the local police station but no action was taken against the shelter home. “Policemen asked me why I was searching for my daughter when she is mentally challenged. How can I leave her?” she asked with tears in her eyes. Devi said she married off her daughter in Gopalganj, Bihar, but her husband abandoned her in view of her condition. “My son and his wife were not ready to keep my daughter with them. I did not have enough money to feed her and did not have any other option but to leave her at the shelter home. I thought she would get proper care and food there,” Devi added. “Had I been aware that she would disappear from the shelter home, I would have never brought her here,” she said. Devi said after coming to know about the shelter home case, she visited the place again on Thursday with the hope that police would help her find her daughter.