Shimla/Mysuru: Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur handed over Padma (Saraswathi) who was lost in Shimla, Himachal Pradesh for the past two years, to a four-member Mysuru district administration team which had been there for the purpose. Padma is a native of Kamalapura in Periyapatna taluk in Mysuru. While handing over Padma, Jai Ram Thakur’s wife Sadna Thakur who is from Bengaluru and had even visited the hospital a couple of times to see the woman was also present. She will be arriving in Mysuru at 10 PM on August 2 (today).
Before handing over, he along with his wife also presented Padma a shawl and Himachal Pradesh peta. Suneela Sharma, a social activist who was instrumental in giving a new lease of life to Padma, was also present. The district team will be getting Padma to Mysuru on Thursday late evening and later sent to Vijayanagar Rehabilitation Centre. The family members of Padma, have been anxiously awaiting her return for a very long time. After it was brought to the notice of Deputy Commissioner Abhiram Sankar, he formed a four-member team to get her back.
On Tuesday, the team led by Dr. M S Manju Prasad, District Mental Health Programme Officer, District Health Department; Manjula V Patil, CDPO, Women and Child Welfare Department; Nageena Mulla, Woman Police Constable and G Mahadev (cousin brother of Padma) met Padma at Himachal Hospital of Mental Health and Rehabilitation (HHMHR) in Shimla where she is there for the past two years. Padma soon after seeing her cousin brother Mahadev became emotional and both spoke for sometime before the authorities and the district administration started the process to take her back home. Padma also spoke over the phone to her mother and cousins Kamalapura.
Dr. Manju Prasad, “On Tuesday, as per direction from the district administration we left from Mysuru to Shimla. In the evening, we went to the hospital and met the superintendent who later took us to meet Padma who is also called Saraswati. Padma soon after seeing us, especially her cousin Mahadev, became emotional. She is stable and able to identify and recollect old memories. Mental status is also fine. On the outset, she looks absolutely fit and fine. She is very much eager to get back to her native place. Padma was taken to CM’s residence where she was handed over.”
The officials at HHMHR said that she was sent to the hospital from a place called Tanda in Himachal Pradesh in 2016, and has been undergoing treatment at the facility since. Her family members learnt that Padma was in Shimla after a video of her talking in Kannada went viral on social media. On recognising Padma, her family members brought the problem to the notice of the district administration. They have been unable to get her back to Mysuru owing to financial difficulties.
Deputy Commissioner Abhiram Sankar promised the family of making all attempts to get her back home. Padma reportedly went into depression after her husband left her a few years after their marriage. Since Padma’s mother was battling a cardiac problem, her family members failed to notice the former’s mental distress. Padma is believed to have boarded a train to Chandigarh and subsequently landed in Tanda in Himachal Pradesh, before she was sent to HHMHR.
Abhiram Sankar said, “We have done our duty that’s it. It was our duty to get her back. What the family should get we will ensure through the panchayat concerned.”
