Twist in the tale: 5-year-old found in flooded Kashmir belongs to Bandra slum

This story is one of happiness, compassion and reunion. Ten days ago, five-year-old Megha, wearing ragged clothes, crying and asking for food was found near Dalgate area in Srinagar, The Indian Express said on Wednesday. [caption id=“attachment_1759657” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  AFP[/caption] A Kashmiri family, who found her, thought that Megha was one of the many children who had lost her family and made homeless as a result of the floods that ravaged the Valley last month. But Megha is not from Kashmir. When asked, the girl said she is from Bandra, Mumbai and was separated from her family a year ago. A day after the story was reported and after swift police action, the girl was reunited with her family on Thursday,  another Indian Express report said.  However, its not just any other lost-and-found case. The family that found the girl, the Sheikhs, took the child in and cared for her for more than 10 days. They also took the matter to the police. Megha lived in a Bandra slum in Mumbai with her mother and her alcoholic father.

“My father used to beat my mother after drinking alcohol. I miss my mother so much and I want to go back to my home now,” she said.

According to Megha, she was brought to Kashmir in a train by a person called Nazir who took her to Sopore, Ashmuqam and Anantnag where he begged for money. The 5-year-old was taken to Uttar Pradesh, Nizamuddin in Delhi, Jammu and then brought to Kashmir. Megha bluntly says:

“He (Nazir) kidnaps small children from Mumbai.”

After getting the details, the Sheikhs approached the local Nehru Park police station who told the family to inform the Ram Munshi Bagh police station.

“But there, they refused to accept the child, saying that this station is only meant for women,” the family told Indian Express.

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But Nehru Park’s police officials said they were the ones who contacted the Mumbai Police. Speaking to IE, Mumbai police commissioner Rakesh Maria said that the missing actions bureau jumped into action and located the 5-year-old’s family in Mumbai’s Nirmal Nagar. The family had filed a missing report a year ago. There were 13 Meghas in the list of missing people, Vasant Dhoble, ACP in Mumbai police’s Missing Persons Bureau said. Since the five-year-old knew where she lived, the police eventually tracked down the family. The five-year-old’s mother Seema and father Shardaprasad Chaudhury told the police that Megha had gone missing after she had gone out shopping with her mother, who had left her outside a shop for two minutes to purchase something. When she returned Megha was long gone. This was in June 2013. On Thursday, a teary-eyed Rameshji Thakur, Megha’s grandfather landed in Srinagar with Vasant Dhoble and finally met his grand daughter. The Sheikhs bid a very emotional farewell to the five-year-old who had become part of the family. “I will again come to Srinagar to meet this aunty. Aunty treated me like her own daughter and tried to keep me happy all the time. They gave me chocolates too, I was happy here,”  the five-year-old said pointing at Dilshad Bano, wife of Abdul Rashid Sheikh. Megha reached Mumbai on Wednesday night where her mother Seema was waiting for her. While Seema was worried that Megha would not remember her, the five-year-old jumped at seeing her and told her:

“Nazir uncle leke gaye the mujhe. Bheek mangvate the mujhse wahan,” (Nazir uncle had taken me away, and used to make me beg for alms).

While the Mumbai police is busy tracking down Nazir, they are also planning to investigate the child-trafficking racket in the city. Meanwhile, Seema is finding it difficult getting used to Megha’s new Kashmiri accent!