An eight-year-old mentally challenged boy went missing from his home in Kashmar, Bokaro in the year 2005. With the efforts of police, he was finally reunited with his family after 14 years on June 5, 2019.
It was the month of February 2005 the boy, Shyamnandan had gone to school, but he did not return home till evening. His parents raised an alarm and the family started searching for him. They searched at relatives’ houses and in nearby villages too. When they did not find him after three days, they lodged a missing person complaint at the Kashmar police station in the year 2005. However, since they did not have a photograph of the child, the police were unable to trace Shyamnandan.
Days, months and years passed and the family members slowly started to believe their son Shyamnandan was dead. According to family members on the fateful day the boy left home for school early morning, he boarded a bus leaving for unknown destination. After about 20 hours, he reached an unknown city and started asking people how he could return to Kasmar. Someone pointed out a train to his and he boarded it, thinking it would take his home. But the train reached an unknown destination instead. As this little boy had not eaten anything for a day now, he went to a small restaurant close to the station and asked for food. The restaurant owner gave his something to eat and asked him some questions.
Shyamnandan thought he might help his get back to his family but, instead, he took him to his house where he was kept him as a servant. More than 10 years passed and Shyamnandan still had not found a way to go back to Kashmar. Then, something unexpected happened. One day, when Shyamnandan was feeling extremely unwell, he refused to work. Infuriated by this, the family threw him out on the streets in this totally unknown place. And once again, Shyamnandan reached a railway station, asking people how he could go back to Bokaro. This time, he sat in a train to Dhanbad, where the police saw the lean and sick kid and entrusted him to Childline, an NGO.
Finally, Shyamnandan reached Bokaro then Kashmar.
“He did not remember the year he was lost, he did not remember his last name. All he said was that his father’s name was Dayashankar Hazam and he was labourer,” said a local villager.
After questioning him, the villager’s learnt from Shyamnandan that his house was located at Mayapur village in Kashmar and there was a temple too near his home. As Shyamnandan could not recollect the year he went missing. Later local villager informed Kashmar police and also his father Dayashankar Hazam and his family were called to the police station and it was confirmed that Shyamnandan was their son and handed over to his parents.
We did not celebrate any festival since the day he went missing. I am so thankful to God and to the police who reunited us with our son,” said Dayashankar Hazam, Shyamnandan’s father.