An NGO helped 14-year-old Suraj reunite with his family but his sisters are still missing.

A 14-year-old boy has been reunited with his family in Bihar almost eight years after he was kidnapped along with his two sisters by human traffickers. The two sisters, then aged 2 years and 11 years, are yet to be traced.

The children were kidnapped in Muzaffarpur district in December 2005, when they were returning home after buying biscuits from a shop. Their father, Raj Kumar Jha, a security guard at a private company, searched for the missing kids in the area, and later registered an FIR with the police.

Miracle

Months and years passed without any information about the siblings. "I had lost hope that I would ever see their faces again," Jha says, "but a miracle happened by the grace of God."

Jha received information last month that his son Suraj was at a child welfare centre in Samastipur district. Without losing a moment, he and his wife Basanti Devi went there and found their long-lost son. Suraj also recognised his parents.

The boy told his parents that he and his sisters were first taken by traffickers from Muzaffarpur to Patna, where they were handed over to a woman named Lalmuni Devi. Four days later, the woman allegedly sold both girls and dispatched them to Delhi. That was the last time Suraj saw his sisters.

According to Suraj, Lalmuni later took him to work at different places before he was hired by a dhaba owner at Mahua in Vaishali district three years ago.

Suraj remembered the name of his father but did not remember where he lived. He thought that he was a resident of Samastipur instead of Muzaffarpur. Finally in March this year, Suraj decided to run away and reached Samastipur in search of his parents.

Helpless

He went to the Town police station to seek help but the cops did not take him seriously. Instead, he was asked to work at the police mess there.

While he was doing errands at the police station, a good Samaritan noticed him and talked to him. His plight was subsequently highlighted in the local media which forced the police to shift him to the child welfare organisation.

Prayas, an NGO working for child welfare, counselled the boy and helped him reunite with his family. Though Jha and his wife were overjoyed to see their son, they were shocked to know that Lalmuni had sold off their daughters.

"Our joy would have been doubled had our daughters been found as well," said Jha. Suresh Prasad, state coordinator of Prayas, said the police had initially refused to file a case at Samastipur. Later, the case was shifted to Muzaffarpur.

"The police have not taken any action against the accused so far," he said.

Giridhar Jha   |   Mail Today 

Source: indiatoday.indiatoday.in