Puri district police have rescued Catrina Janea Hunder of France from Konark area after her sordid tale of begging on streets for the last few years came to the fore. Scribe and social activist NA Ansari noted her ordeal when the 52-year-old woman came near him with pleas to get some money at the Chandrabhaga sea beach area.
Penury and isolation had indeed driven her to the brink of madness. She was sick and not able to speak clearly. Nevertheless, her gesture was enough to mark that she was in acute misery and needed somebody who was empathetic enough. Ansari was probably the man she was in dire need of.
Ansari got to know that the woman, now with matted hair and dirty and torn clothes, had been to Odisha six years ago on a tourist visa. However, she could not be back to her country owing to some reasons and lived in various hotels till her money exhausted.
Then, she was reduced to a pauper and began living in mutts, temples and by roads. She also resorted to begging just to feed her. Desperation and pain forced her to take drugs too. In the meantime, her visa had expired and she was living illegally.
Ansari informed the Konark police first about the woman and then Puri Superintendent of Police Anup Sahu. At the behest of the Puri SP, the Konark police rescued the woman on Tuesday evening. As she was in a state of poor health, she was shifted to the Nilachal Nari Seva Sadan at Puri where she is now being treated.
Meanwhile, the Puri district administration has contacted the French Consulate in Kolkata. The French Consul would visit Puri on Friday to meet the woman and an official of the French Embassy has assured all help to her for her safe return to France, said sources.