Odisha Woman, Branded 'Witch' And Driven Out Of Home, Reunited With Daughter After 12 Years

Bhubaneswar:

A woman in Odisha’s Mayurbhanj district, who had to leave her three-year-old daughter at her in-laws’ place after being branded a witch, has reunited with her child after a gap of around 12 years.

She found her daughter at a Child Care Institute (CCI) in Baripada after an employee discovered the girl’s parentage from among 500 entries almost by chance, an official said on Thursday.

The inmates of the CCI celebrated the reunion by clapping and dancing as the mother-daughter duo was shedding tears of joy.

The woman, now 37, currently stays in an ashram in Puducherry. She contacted the District Child Protection Officer (DCPO) after getting the phone number on the internet.

“She came to Baripada in search of her daughter. It was really difficult to locate one particular girl among 500 inmates (in 11 CCIs in the district).

“The girl was only 3 years old when admitted to the CCI and she could not recall the name of her mother. She used to address her just as Maa,” Mayurbhanj DCPO Mamatamayee Biswal told PTI.

As the DCPO’s office could not find her daughter initially, she got frustrated and left for Puducherry. “Fortunately, one of our staff identified the girl’s parentage almost by chance. I called up the mother when she was almost 100 km from Baripada. She returned and saw her daughter after so many years,” Biswal said.

It was an emotional scene when the two met last week, said the official.

“They both were smiling as tears rolled down their cheeks. Everybody present there was crying,” Biswal narrated.

The girl later told Biswal: “I have got everything in the world after finding my mother. I do not know what a father is in the life of a person. Thank God that my mother is alive and returned to me.” After the untimely death of her husband and being branded as a witch, the tribal woman boarded a train and somehow reached an ashram in Puducherry.

The daughter who remained in the family was neglected and the villagers shifted her to one of the CCIs run by Odisha government’s Women and Child Development department in Mayubhanj district.

“Though she tried to find out her daughter during these 12 years, the woman could not get her. She also could not visit her dead husband’s village fearing further torture. Finally, she came to us and got back her child,” Biswal said.

For now, the girl will continue to stay at the CCI, the DCPO said.

“She has her class 10 board examination next year. Her mother is allowed to come and meet the girl. She may take her daughter along with her after completion of her 10th standard examination,” Biswal said.

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