Pookkottum Padam: Separated from her family at the age of six, Suhasini has finally reunited with her family 15 years later through the determined efforts of a senior civil police officer. Now 21, her joy at the reunion was unmistakable, a moment that moved many of  the onlookers too into tears.

Suhasini hails from Cuddalore in Tamil Nadu. She went missing at Tirur in 2010 while travelling with her grandmother to meet her mother, Panjali, who was working in Tanur. The child was later taken into police custody and handed over to the Child Welfare Committee. Apart from knowing her father’s name as Manjunath and her mother’s as Panjali, Suhasini had no other details about her family or native place, and efforts to trace her relatives also came to a halt soon.

Suhasini later grew up as an inmate in children’s homes in Kozhikode and Vengara before being shifted to the Kozhikode Mahila Mandiram, where she is currently pursuing a professional course. It was during this period that she expressed a desire to trace her family. The authorities contacted the media and the news was published, but the effort failed to yield any results.

This report, however, caught by chance the attention of K T Naushad, Senior Civil Police Officer at the Pookkottum Padam police station. Determined to reunite Suhasini with her family, he took up the task with the support and encouragement of his superiors and the police department. What followed was a relentless search. No matter where duty took him, the thought of finding her relatives never left his mind.

During his deployment at Sabarimala this time, Naushad showed Suhasini’s childhood photograph to pilgrims arriving from Tamil Nadu. Eventually, he received a lead about her father and sister. Further investigation took him to Cuddalore, where he traced her relatives. By then, Suhasini’s mother Panjali and grandmother had already passed away.

 When Suhasini’s sister Manjula was brought to the Mahila Mandiram and reunited with her, the moment proved deeply moving for Naushad as well. Overwhelmed, Suhasini and Manjula were at a loss for words to express their gratitude. Suhasini is now eagerly waiting to travel to Cuddalore to meet her father, brother and other relatives.