Two young brothers, separated from their mother nearly nine years ago, were reunited with her in a sequence of events that's no less a blockbuster movie plot.
Anil, now 16, and his brother Sunil, 17, traced their mother to Tilaswa village in Rajasthan's Bhilwara district through extraordinary luck and a little help from the Child Welfare Committee in Kota.
Anil was rescued from Kota railway station by the CWC on October 28. But his trouble had begun nine years ago, when he and his brother ran away from their maternal grandmother's home, fearing they might be punished for laxity on their part.
The family's goats had gone missing under their watch, said Kota CWC chairman Harish Gurubaxani.
From the village, the two kids reached Ujjain, where they were found by the CWC in the city.
The Ujjain CWC sent them to a children shelter home in the city, where the two brothers lived until a few months ago. They were then sent to a foster-care centre in Chittorgarh.
From there, they were sent to Kanpur for skill development training.
But Anil, the younger brother, ran away from there and was finally rescued from Kota railway station last month.
In counselling sessions with CWC members, Anil said he was unable to recall anything about his village but its name - Tilaswa. The CWC members conducted an investigation and found two kids had gone missing from the village nine years ago.
The lead helped the CWC members trace their mother Dhapubai, and then they called Sunil from Kanpur.
The two were confirmed as Dhapubai's sons through identical birth marks on their bodies and similar characteristics, CWC chairman Gurubaxani said.
The reunion has elated the family.
The mother said she was extremely happy and feeling fortunate to have her sons back after so many years.
According to Gurubaxani, the tale of the mother was also no less miserable. She was abducted by her brother-in-law when she was only six. At the age of 16 and 17, she delivered Sunil and Anil, with her brother-in-law being their father.
After living with the man for a few years more, she fled from his house and went to her parents in Tilaswa village.
Her parents did not allow the man to take her back, and instead sent her with another man on the basis of 'Nata Pratha', a centuries-old custom prevalent in Rajasthan, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, which allows a man to have a live-in relationship with a married woman, in some cases by paying her parents.
The Kota CWC, meanwhile, has raised questions over the role of their counterparts in Ujjain in determining the age of the two brothers.
The age of Anil, through medical examination, was confirmed to be around 16 years, said Gurubaxani, asking how can the CWC in Ujjain release them to a foster-care centre without them reaching adulthood.
He said he would write to legal bodies concerned in Madhya Pradesh, demanding a probe into the matter.
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