‘Welcome Home, Amma’: Karnataka Woman Reunites With Family After 22 Years, Thanks To Karjat’s Shraddha Foundation & Pune’s Yerawada Mental Hospital

In a moment that melted hearts and restored faith in miracles, Lakshmi, a woman who vanished from her home in Karnataka's Bellary district 22 years ago, finally returned to her children.

Back in the early 2000s, Lakshmi, a mother of three, began suffering from severe mental illness following childbirth. The weight of postpartum trauma, household ignorance and lack of timely treatment led her to wander from home repeatedly. Each time, her husband would bring her back. But one day, she left and never returned.

Her children, then still very young, clung to the memory of her soft voice and caring touch. They prayed. They waited. And slowly, painfully, they learned to live without her. But they never stopped hoping. Every year on her birthday, her daughter would place a saree on a mat, fold her hands and whisper, "Wherever you are, Amma, come home."

In October 2016, Lakshmi was found in Indapur taluka in Pune district. She carried a stick for protection and was in a bad mental condition, would curse passersby and wander aimlessly. But someone noticed. The police, recognising her vulnerability, brought her to the Yerawada Regional Mental Hospital in Pune under court orders.

There, Lakshmi began a new chapter. Months of medication, therapy and care slowly pieced together what time and illness had torn apart. The fire in her eyes softened. Her words, though few, began to make sense. She was not just a patient anymore; she was someone's mother, someone's lost daughter.

In 2023, the Karjat-based Shraddha Foundation, in collaboration with Yerawada Hospital, took on Lakshmi's case for rehabilitation. Their mission was to bring the her back to their families.

With only fragments of information and a few Kannada phrases from Lakshmi, the team, including mental health nurse Mangal Bangar, social worker Farida Shaikh and coordinator Vasappa Birajdar travelled to Bellary. There, they showed her photograph around villages, temples and bus stations. Many shook their heads. Some paused. Then, a breakthrough.

A local recognised her. The photo made its way to her son, who couldn't believe his eyes. But by the time he traced the team, the ambulance had already left.

Still, he didn't give up. With the help of CCTV footage and the mobile number on the ambulance, he contacted the Shraddha Foundation. "Is it true?" he asked. "Is my mother… really alive?"

He arrived in Karjat without a moment's delay. When he saw her, seated in a wheelchair, tired but alive, the dam broke. Tears. Laughter. Silence. Then more tears.

"She may not remember all our names, but she looked at me and said, 'You came?' That was enough," he said, holding her hand.

Her daughters, now grown - one a nurse, the other managing the home - hugged her tightly. Their father had passed away years ago, carrying with him the guilt of not being able to find her. But now, the mother he had loved had returned to her children.

Lakshmi's return is not just a story of a lost woman found. It is a story of what is possible when institutions care, when systems listen and when mental illness is met with treatment instead of stigma.

"Lakshmi developed mental illness after childbirth. With no awareness in the family, she went untreated. Early diagnosis could have changed everything," said Dr Kshama Rathod, Senior Psychiatrist.

"There are over 150 long-term patients in our hospital. With society's support, we can bring them home," said Dr Shrinivas Kolode, Superintendent of Yerawada Regional Mental Hospital. "Love and compassion are as important as medicine," he added.

Back in Bellary, Lakshmi sits quietly in her old home. Her children are rebuilding their lives, now with her in it. A new saree has been placed at the altar, not as a symbol of absence, but as a tribute to her return.

And every night, as the breeze passes through the window, her daughter holds her hand and whispers, "Welcome home, Amma."

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