I was passing through Surajpur forest near Greater Noida, a route which I frequent. This stretch of forest is spread across 7-8 km. On July 24, I saw a man near the forest. He seemed to be around 25-26 years of age.
His condition was too bad. His hair was unkempt and he was dressed in shabby clothes. He seemed to be mentally unsound. I passed through the same route a couple of times again. I did spot him on a few occasions.
I managed to talk to him on one occasion. He told me that his name was Aditya and then ran inside the forest. The forest is too dense and I did not have the courage to follow him inside.
The next time I took the police with me. We entered the forest but did not find him anywhere, so we returned.
However, the next time I passed through the route, I saw him again. From then on, I started carrying food for him. Whenever I spotted him, I would feed him, else I would hang the food package by a tree branch by the road.
Soon he was well acquainted with me and started opening up. This happened in a course of 10 days. He slowly started initiating a conversation with him, Sometimes he would respond to me and other times would just change the topic.
After much persuasion, he said that his name is Aditya Sharma and he belonged to Bhatpurwa village in Prathapgarh district. He also told me that he was a B.Com graduate.
I wanted to shift him to a rehabilitation centre while I looked for his family. However, all the centres I contacted refused to admit him saying that since there is no family assurance, they couldn’t admit him. I approached the police and they refused as well.
I then approached the Human Rights department. After pressure from their side, the police finally agreed to keep him.
Then, with the help of my friends, we started looking up the Pratapgarh district. However, we realised there was no village named Bhatpurwa in this district. We then looked Bhatpurwa and we got to know that it was a village in Rae Bareli.
I contacted the district officer, who then connected me to the village Sarpanch. The Sarpanch said that a boy from one of the families of the village did disappear about two years back, but the family no longer lived in the village. However, Aditya’s relatives continued staying in the same village who connected me to his parents who were staying Lucknow.
This is how I was finally able to unite Aditya with his family. I have helped four other people like this in the past. It gives me an immense sense of joy and I hope to continue to help people in need.
The Logical Indian spoke to Aditya’s mother who said that he disappeared about two years back. “Aditya has been a bright student in his school and college and even obtained B.Com degree. However, there have been disturbances in family time and again. He started showing symptoms of being disturbed by 2014. We even consulted a doctor who said that he was undergoing depression. He would often run away from the house and wouldn’t return for two-three days. However, in 2017 he disappeared. After two years, due to Sunil Nagar, we are united with our son.”
30-year-old Sunil Nagar, a resident of Greater Noida helped Aditya and many other people reunite mentally challenged people who have fled from their homes. It is because of people like Sunil we still have hopes on humanity.
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