Sakhya Women's Guidance Cell

Successful tracking of mentally challenged
 girls’ parents by Sakhya team

On 29^th April, Payal’s aged 24 was referred by a social work trainee who is working in the hospital for mentally challenged persons in Vadodara.  According to the information given by the hospital authorities, Payal was there in the hospital for the last 1 year.  She was being treated for mental illness and when her conditions started improving she was able to give information about her whereabouts.  The hospital authorities had tried all their means to trace her whereabouts, had got in touch with various police stations but to no avail.  They then got the contacts of Sakhya through the website. The authorities informed Sakhya, upon which Ms. Hilda Fernandes inquired with the Nala Sopara police station whether a missing complaint has been filed.   The police said that there was no such complaint.  So Shalini and Geeta set about getting to know the whereabouts of Payal.  They were able to locate her residential vicinity and got to know that her parents were not there as they had gone for the younger daughter’s wedding, but they meet Payal’s paternal uncle who confirmed that Payal indeed stayed in Nala Sopara.  He also said that he did not know whether her parents had filed a missing complaint; his wife also informed that Payal was married but in a secretive manner.  A copy of the letter from the hospital and the contacts were given to the paternal uncle to further follow up with the hospital authorities and to inform Payal’s parents about the recent developments.

Meanwhile the hospital authorities informed Sakhya that the parents had not contacted them, so Shalini called up her uncle on 8^th May, he said that the parents had not returned from the wedding.  On 19^th May Shalini was intimated by the hospital about the phone call made by the uncle that the parents would return by 23^rd May and they would further follow up with the hospital authorities. 

The hospital authorities were grateful to the efforts of Sakhya for locating the parents and relatives of Payal.