Thanks to the Indian Red Cross Society, Odisha State Branch (IRCS-OSB), a 33-year-old woman of Mayurbhanj district was rescued from the Regional Mental Hospital (RMH) of Thane in Maharashtra and united with her family members after four years.
The woman, identified as Sambhari Singh of Paikajujapura village under Baisinga police limits in the district, had gone missing since July 2010. He was rescued by the IRCS-OSB members under its Family News Service (FNS).
Notably, the FNS is a special programme of the Red Cross initiated soon after the Second World War to trace missing persons due to war, disaster, conflict and migration.
According to victim’s brother Harishchandra Singh, Sambhari had left her husband Kunu Singh’s home in January, 2010 when she came to know about her husband’s extra marital affairs with another girl. First, she came to her parent’s house, but she didn’t stay there for long and left the house in July, 2010. “Since then, she remained untraceable,” said Harishchandra.
A few months ago, Yuva Red Cross counsellor Prabir Kumar Das got information on Sambhari from his friend Surekha Wathore, who is a psychiatric social worker of the RMH, Thane.
Das and his team, taking the aid of Associate Professor Sudhir Chandra Jena of Mayurbhanj, went to the village of the missing woman and met her family members. Finally, on May 14 last, Das constituting a team of FNS and State Red Cross members along with victim’s family members proceeded to the Thane hospital and rescued the lady getting help from the Maharashtra Red Cross Branch.
“She is mentally well, but physically not fit to walk due to unknown reasons. She has been provided a wheelchair from the hospital and very soon she would get medical treatment and rehabilitation from the Government,” said IRCS-OSB honorary secretary Dr Mangala Prasad Mohanty.
On March 14, 2012, IRCS-OSB had united Benudhar Pradhan of Bhagirathipur in Athagarh with his family after rescuing him from a jail in Pakistan, Mohanty said.