Mentally-ill woman reunites with family after 8 years

Warangal: The reunion of a mentally-ill woman with her family members after eight years brought boundless joy to her family members, thanks to the efforts of the officials of the Social Welfare Department, West Bengal.Regalla Amrutamma (55), a resident of Khammam town, left her home eight years ago as she had been suffering from mental illness for several years. The concerned family members had made all the attempts to find her whereabouts since then but in vain. The missing woman with schizophrenia had somehow reached a government-run Swadhar Home at Beldanga town under Barhampur sub-division of Murshidabad district in West Bengal and continued to stay there.“About a month ago, Amrutamma had recollected her past and told the officials at the Home that she was from Mahabubabad town of erstwhile Warangal district since she lived there in Mahabubabad before their family moved to the neighbouring Khammam town,” said Warangal Police Commissioner Dr Tarun Joshi, adding that he was contacted by the officials of West Bengal, who sent a photo to him. “After receiving the photo, we have circulated it on WhatsApp groups in an attempt to find her family members or relatives. Luckily, her husband Ram Reddy had happened to see the photo just after three days of posting it and approached us stating that the woman in the photo was her wife,” the CP said.Subsequently, the police have verified the claim of the man and collected the relevant proofs to send them to the authorities of West Bengal’s social welfare department. “As it was confirmed that the missing woman is the wife of Ram Reddy, we have sent a special police team along with Ram Reddy to bring his wife home. The officials at the Swadhar Home in Beldanga had handed over Amrutamma to his husband after verifying the details,” the CP said and added that Amrutamma had been handed over to her family members at the Police Commissioner’s office here on Sunday. The Commissioner has also presented a saree and fruits to Amrutamma in the presence of her husband Reddy and daughter Sravanthi.“I am very much happy to meet my mother after eight years. I wholeheartedly thank the officials of the Social Welfare Department, West Bengal, and Warangal Police Commissioner Dr Tarun Joshi. We will remain indebted to the Commissioner for his efforts to reunite my mother with our family,” Sravanthi, a software engineer in Hyderabad,