Kerala man reunites with family after 17 yrs, was in shelter home

Rajahmundry: A 41-year-old man from Palakkad, Kerala was reunited with his family on Wednesday after a wait of 17 years.
Rameshan, who has schizophrenia, had left Palakkad in 2003. Over the next 19 years, he wandered across southern India as a destitute. When the lockdown was imposed in March, he was in Rajahmundry in East Godavari district. Police shifted him to a shelter home as part of a special drive. At the home, counselling sessions for migrant workers were held by a team under the East Godavari District Mental Health Programme. It was here that the DMHP team diagnosed Rameshan with schizophrenia. Over the course of counselling sessions, it emerged that Rameshan was from Palakkad. Dr Vasu, psychiatrist and Dr Sudarshini, clinical psychologist with the DMHP contacted the district mental health centre in Palakkad, where officials recognised Rameshan as having received treatment in the past. The centre in Palakkad got in touch with Rameshan’s family and his sister contacted him on a video call and identified him.
Due to the lockdown, however, the shelter home was unable to send Rameshan back to Kerala. During this period, an NGO Swarnanadhra, provided him with accommodation and the DMHP team monitored his health every day. On August 11, with the help of district collector Muralidhar Reddy and joint collector G Lakshmisha, Rameshan left for Kerala. He arrived home on Wednesday morning and reunited with his father and sister.
Talking to TOI, Dr Sudarshini said an overwhelmed Rameshan called her after reuniting with his family. The experience, she said, has been one of the positive impacts of the lockdown

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