Restoration of a Rescued Child to the Parents

Each time a child comes into an institution such as ours, it is a great trauma for the child. A missing child or rescued children, who have been with their families all along, are suddenly estranged from their loved ones. This is a trauma that the child carries and finds it difficult to overcome. There is one such incident which happened in the year 1998.

A 3-year-old male child was rescued in the Central Railway Station in 1998 and brought in by Childline through the Juvenile Welfare Board (JWB), for admission into the Reception Unit of Bala Mandir. This unit is a temporary place for children until their families are traced or different steps for rehabilitation are taken.

This child initially was able to say his name and that of his parents but could give no other information. So, after due investigations, a report was filed in the Police Station by Childline. While a lot of debate was going on as to how the child landed up in the Railway Station and if he was from the North, or was lost or abandoned, the child remained in the Home.

Through the JWB, a paper advertisement, along with his photo, was placed in a Tamil news daily for tracing his parents or relatives. There was not much of a response for this even after a year of waiting. The JWB then decided that the child could be considered for rehabilitation through adoption, but wanted one final opportunity to trace the parents. They requested for a television broadcast about this child.

In those days, the Doordarshan (DD) TV channel gave a slot before the night time news for displaying the photos of missing children, to enable parents to track their children. The photo of this child was also broadcast for two consecutive days in DD before the Tamil news, along with contact details of the concerned official in the Social Defence Department.

A week later there was a contact with the official saying that a couple had lost their son and the photo looked like their child. The officials at the JWB then asked the parents to come and discuss the case. This child was missing from his home in Mylapore and the parents had given a police complaint. But for the last three years had not found any trace of him. Their relative had seen the DD publication and had informed them about the child who looked like their lost son. He had also given them the contact details and hence the parents came with all documents like the photos of the child and a copy of the FIR they had filed.

JWB asked the child to be produced and made to sit with many children in his age group. As the parents entered the JWB the child just ran towards the mother shouting, ‘Amma’. This was after three years of separation. This brought tears to the eyes of all who witnessed this emotional reunion. The image of his parents will always remain fresh in the mind of the child though they may not be able to communicate their names or address.

This made the efforts put in by all concerned worthwhile, just to witness the happy reunion of the child.  I was happy to be a part of the restoration of the child to his family. While there are these success stories, there are also those who have been waiting for a long time for this process. The search for the parents is still a never-ending process and sometimes there seems to be no light at the end of the tunnel. These children often remain in the institutions with no other alternate options of rehabilitation. The younger the child, alternative care makes it easier for them to accept and adjust. Many of them remain estranged from their families not knowing when such a reunification can happen.