Mumbai police find missing SA man
DHRAMALINGUM (Dan) Pillay, who went missing in Mumbai, will return home later this week.
Pillay, 69, from oThongathi, disappeared from the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai on January 30. At the time he was waiting to board a flight back to South Africa via Nairobi.
Pillay was with his daughter, Rabecca Pillay, 34, who fell asleep after a long flight delay. When she woke up, her father was nowhere to be seen.
Pillay suffered from short-term memory loss after a stroke in 2018. Generally, he knows who he is but had become confused in unfamiliar surroundings.
His disappearance sparked a nationwide search in India. After 11 days, Mumbai Police found him on the streets of Khar, a suburb of the city.
Senior Inspector Sanjay Govilkar of the Mumbai Police said a team of 25 officers had been dedicated to the search. “We worked with his daughter. We printed and distributed about 10000 pamphlets with his picture and information. We also put articles in our newspapers. We searched every part of the city hoping to locate him.”
Govilkar said on Sunday they received a call that Pillay had been spotted on a street in Khar. They found him and took him to the Sahar police station.
“He was a bit disorientated. He could not tell us much about where he had been or what happened to him because of his memory loss. We had a doctor check him and he was then reunited with his daughter.”
Samantha Pillay, his daughter in South Africa, said: “Finding my father has been a huge relief for us. I saw him through a video call shortly after he was found and I just began to cry. My father, before becoming ill, was our stronghold for the longest time. These last few days have been emotional and traumatic for our family.
“We are waiting for him to recover. He is weak and slipping in and out of consciousness at times. … We want him to get enough rest so he can get his strength back. The flight to South Africa is a long one. We are expecting him and my sister to return later this week.”
Samantha thanked the police in Mumbai, the Indian Consulate General in India, the media and everyone who had shared posts on social media to help locate her father.
“The love and support we received held us together.”