Kozhikode(Kerala): When her brother was leaving no stone unturned to find her and her husband took her for dead and got married again, 36-year-old Sanju Devi was undergoing treatment at the Government Mental Health Centre here. Two Diwalis had passed since she met either of them. Hence the siblings’ reunion here on Wednesday was sweeter than any Diwali sweet.
It was the two-month-long effort of the social workers of the Mental Health Centre, especially retired Union Home Ministry official M. Sivan, that borne fruit on Wednesday when Arvind Kumar Sagar from Badaun district in Uttar Pradesh came in search of his long lost sister.
Sanju Devi, mother of two teenage boys, had slight mental disturbances for a long time, mainly triggered by the alcoholism of her husband and domestic violence. She was under the care of her siblings when one day she walked out of the house. Though she was later traced by the police, she went missing again after she was let off from the police station. Alleging that she went missing due to the carelessness of the police, Mr. Sagar requested a thorough probe, which the police allegedly neglected. He petitioned the top most police officials in the State. When the petition went unanswered, he approached the UP High Court at Alahabad.
Meanwhile, Soran Singh, husband of Sanju Devi, a resident of Shahjahanpur district, married once again. He did not respond when the social workers from Kozhikode tried to contact him.
Mr. Sagar said that Mr. Singh’s second marriage was illegal as his first wife was still alive. He is determined to bring his brother-in-law before the law for not just polygamy, but domestic violence as well.
Shobhita T, Psychiatric Social Worker at the Mental Health Centre, said that Pooja (their nickname for Sanju Devi) was fit to be discharged and would be normal with some medication and a good family environment.
The siblings, accompanied by their native Rizwan, plan to leave Kozhikode on Thursday.
(source: The Hindu)