New Delhi: The Delhi Police undertook an extensive hunt for a 31-year-old mentally ill woman earlier this month—covering a maze of NGOs across multiple states, and using technical surveillance and human intelligence networks—before finally tracking her down to about 200 kilometres away from where she had gone missing.
The woman, identified as Deepa Tamang from Mahottari district in Nepal, was working as a domestic help in Southeast Delhi’s Prakash Mohalla area from where she had gone missing on 26 March, and was found at the Apna Ghar Ashram in Bharatpur, Rajasthan on 19 April. The woman is now back home in Nepal with her family.
Deepa had gone missing a day before she was supposed to travel home, the police said.
“We contacted various NGOs that take care of mentally challenged and destitute individuals. The team contacted NGOs in Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan for any possible leads,” an officer involved in the search told ThePrint.
Last week, the police got confirmation from Apna Ghar Ashram in Bharatpur that a woman matching the description had been housed there. “The woman is suffering from mental health issues. The medical team at Apna Ghar Ashram diagnosed her with a behavioural disorder, and prepared a report,” the officer added.
The police had lodged a missing persons complaint by her employers Mamta Biswa and Manisha Bhujal at the Amar Colony Police Station on 28 March.
Mamta told ThePrint that Deepa had been working at her house for about a month. Deepa had told her that she had been suffering from anxiety and depression for the past decade, and was under medication.
Mamta added that Deepa had been having anxiety attacks, and wanted to go back home to Nepal. Deepa’s condition had been worsening as local chemist shops would refuse to sell her medicines due to lack of prescriptions, she said. “She would scream whenever she had an anxiety attack, and things would go out of control. She then told me she wanted to go home, and I booked the ticket for her.”
Mamta further said, “Deepa’s mother, Buddhimaya, had asked me to help her board the train as she was incapable of returning alone. But the day before leaving, she went to collect her clothes from where she was staying, but never returned.”
On how Deepa ended up in Rajasthan, the officer quoted above said that she was spotted near a railway station in Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh. “Someone called the UP police from the railway station and informed them about this woman who seemed lost and mentally unstable. The UP Police then rescued her, and contacted the Apna Ghar NGO. This was how she landed up in their ashram in Bharatpur.”
After Deepa was sent there, her family back in Nepal was contacted, after which her mother came to get her.
Deepa’s mother confirmed to ThePrint that she is back home, and has started her medication again.
The ashram had also put Deepa’s employer in touch with her over phone. “She did not remember how she ended up in Aligarh. She said she only remembered her trip to Bharatpur in an ambulance. She sounded fine,” Mamta told ThePrint.
Anmol Kapil is a TPSJ alum and an intern with ThePrint.