A woman who was working in South 24-Parganas district of West Bengal has been reunited with her family in Bokaro district of Jharkhand after around 37 years, thanks to the efforts of ham radio operators.
The 67-year-old woman suffering from memory loss was handed over to her husband, in presence of senior officials of the district and police administration, said Ambarish Nag Biswas, Secretary of West Bengal Radio Club, an organisation of ham radio enthusiasts.
District officials confirmed the incident.
"We were informed by a tourist around 15 days ago that a woman is working at a tea stall at Bakhali sea beach for around four decades. She cannot recall from where she hailed," Nag Biswas told PTI.
After verifying the facts with two civic police volunteers, Nag Biswas spoke to the woman and from her dialect, he thought that she might have been from Jangalmahal, the tribal belt of Birbhum, Bankura and Purulia districts of West Bengal.
As Ganu Mondal (Bauri) could only recall her native place was Chorabasti but did not know where it was, the ham radio operators body started searching for it.
It was informed by an ambulance driver that a place called Chorabasti exists in Jharkhand.
"Finally, with help of ham radio enthusiasts, police and district administration, the woman's family was traced. She was handed over to her husband on Sunday," he said.
Umapada, her husband, and his family had to be convinced about her identity and a video call was made to put to rest doubts, Nag Biswas said adding that the Adivasi panchayat in the village also gave its nod.
A district police official said, "We have asked the family to get her examined by a doctor. She might have experienced some trauma after she went missing and that needs to be diagnosed."
Due to memory loss, the woman could not recall the chain of events how she reached Bakkhali from Bokaro, over 430 kilometres away.
