Man traces nephew via Facebook

An 18-year-old mentally challenged boy from Sikkim who went missing in the City for over a month was reunited with his uncle after a good Samaritan rehabilitated the teenager and launched a search for his guardian on Facebook.

Sanjay Subba, 18, had come to Bangalore in December last year for treatment along with his uncle, Subhash Subba, who works as a chef in the City.

Subhash, who lives in Whitefield, said he had gone home for vacation and while coming back brought Sanjay along.

On February 23, a day before he disappeared, Sanjay went into depression and started behaving strangely. “He had a bath in the middle of the night and said something about winning a Maruti car,” Subhash recalled. “The next day when I went to work, he probably slipped out of home.” Subhash said he then made a complaint to the Mahadevapura police and also sought help from friends. Days passed but Sanjay could not be traced.

On March 16, Nanda Kumar, the good Samaritan, happened to see an extremely frail boy sitting on a footpath near Majestic. “I asked him many things but he uttered just one word: Sanjay,” Kumar recounted. “He was starving and was so weak he could not even lift the water bottle I gave him. There were cuts on his heels and he could not walk properly.”

Kumar further said he took Sanjay’s pictures with his mobile phone and posted them on his Facebook page, asking for help to trace his family. The same day, he admitted him to the Sanjay Gandhi Hospital in Jayanagar. In the next two days, the post was shared by more than 4,000 people.

On March 18, Subhash received a telephone call from his brother-in-law in Sikkim about the FB post. “My brother-in-law’s friend had seen the post and told him about it. He in turn called me and then I contacted Kumar,” Subhash said. “I am relieved and grateful that Sanjay has been found.”

Meanwhile, Kumar looked after the boy. He was helped in this effort by Reyaz Kachgal, his Facebook friend from Mangalore. “I volunteered to help because what Kumar did was truly inspiring. I just lent a helping hand,” said Kachgal.