16 MONTHS LATER, 3-YR-OLD GIRL REUNITED WITH FAMILY

Publication date: 4 August 2017

By Vicky Pathare, Pune Mirror | Aug 4, 2017, 02.30 AM IST

16 months later, 3-yr-old girl reunited with family

Tanishka with her parents Priyanka and Sachin Kamble

Tanishka went missing from Pune Junction; Sofosh and GRP find her home in Kolhapur

Tanishka has redefined the term, “miracle”, as the threeand- half-year-old girl was reunited with her parents on Wednesday — 16 months after she had gone missing from Pune Junction. Curiously, nobody knows where and in which condition she had spent the 16 months, as the little girl can hardly recall that when she was found unattended at the same railway station on July 21.

Tanishka used to stay with her grandparents in Dehu Road while her parents — mother Priyanka Kamble and father Sachin Kamble — live in Kolhapur’s Shahu Colony. Priyanka, a smalltime vegetable vendor, had met with a fire accident and Tanishka had to be shifted to stay with her grandparents when the tragedy occurred on March 29, 2016. Sachin, a truck driver, left no stone unturned in tracing her younger daughter — the couple has another daughter, six-year-old Tanaya. The family had registered a missing complaint with the government railway police (GRP). Advertisements on TV and newspapers were also put out but to no avail. The family did whatever they could with the small resources they had to find her.

Miraculously, Tanishka was spotted by some people on July 21 at Pune Junction who handed her over to members of Society of Friends of the Sassoon Hospital (Sofosh) the same day. Fortunately for her, instructions were given by the GRP senior police inspector, Sanjay Satav, around the same time to conduct a search to identify all lost children in pending cases. N V Mantode, police sub inspector, GRP, said, “As per the instruction of our senior inspector, we carried out search operations to identify the lost children who have been adopted by organisations across the district. During such a search when we reached Sofosh, we came across the girl and she was identified. When we tried to contact her family, the number given to us was not reachable.”

He added, “Without wasting time, some of our officials went to Tanishka's house in Kolhapur and informed them that their daughter has been found. The family was brought by us a couple of days ago and a identification parade was carried out. The girl was handed over to the family on Wednesday. The search drive of pending cases for lost children proved a boon for the Kamble family."

Speaking to Mirror, Tanishka’s mother Priyanka, who was clearly lost for words to express her happiness, said, “We tried a lot more than a year and ran from the pillar to post to get my lost child back. We had almost lost hope to get her back. When we came to know that she has been found we were practically shocked. Even my child is in good health and Sofosh has taken good care of her. I want to thank the GRP and Sofosh to help me get my Tanishka back.”

Sharmila Sayed, administration-incharge, Sofosh, said, “The girl was brought to our organisation on July 21, as she was found unattended at Pune Junction. After completion of all legal processes, she was kept at our institute and was put up for adoption on Central Adoption Resource Authority (Cara). The same day she was put up for adoption, the GRP came to Sofosh and they recognised Tanishka. We were happy that the girl is safe and after 16 months, she has now returned to her real parents.”

She added, “The girl got even reserved on Cara the next day for adoption. I am very happy after seeing Tanishka with her parents. We handed her over to her parents after completion of documents.”

? We had almost lost hope to get her back. When we came to know that she has been found we were practically shocked. Sofosh has taken good care of her

— Priyanka Kamble, girl’s mother