A mentally unstable man in his early 60s who was noticed roaming aimlessly along the busy Sion-Panvel road, near Juinagar, was rescued and taken to a shelter home in Panvel last year in February. As the man, Bharati Jenaji Makwana, slowly recovered, he could tell the social workers about his family details and his home address in Gujarat.
On Monday, the of Makwana’s family members reached the New Panvel based Social and Evangelical Association for Love (SEAL) Ashram, and took him back home.
This is the 504th reunion at SEAL since it was established in 1999.
The SEAL founder, Pastor K M Philip, said: “We feel happy and blessed whenever any of our rescued homeless people are reunited with their loved ones. Makwana was in a bad, dishevelled shape in February 2022, when he was noticed by a TOI newspaper correspondent who then contacted us to inform about this man. We immediately sent our ambulance to pick up Makwana and take him to our New Panvel based shelter for the homeless.”
Philip added that if no one would have bothered to stop and notice such homeless persons on the road, then perhaps Makwana, who was missing since 2019, could not have been reunited with his family.
Makwana’s son, Raju Makwana, and son-in-law, Chandu Singh Chauhan, said that they are taking him back to his home at Vadrad, Gujarat. “We are very grateful to SEAL and also thank the media person who helped in rescuing our lost father, who has now been reunited with us after four years,” said his son, Raju.
Pastor Philip added: “Many missing persons keep wandering and travelling to various cities and towns, as they do not have the mental capacity to express to people that they need help to get back home. That is why SEAL has written to various government authorities, including the home department, to ensure that the DNA technology should be properly utilized, and connected to all police stations in India, so that it becomes easier to find missing people. It is also good that some citizens are showing the sensitivity to stop and notice such homeless persons who have to be rescued and reunited.”
