Aadhaar helps mentally-ill woman reunite with family

New Delhi: A mentally unstable women, found abandoned on the roads of the city roads, was rescued by the Delhi police who obtained her biometric records from the Aadhaar database and re-united her with her family.

The 31-year-old woman was missing for more than four months was found by police and sent for a short stay home “Nirmal Chhaya” by a court, which had directed them to help her undergo Aadhaar registration.

The police said that with the help of her biometric records, which preexisted in the Aadhaar database, the police was able to obtain her details from the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI).

Consistent efforts by the court to reunite her with her family proved fruitful when the police informed metropolitan magistrate Abhilash Malhotra that they have found the woman’s  family.

According to the police, her family in Malakhera police station in Rajasthan’s Alwar district had lodged a missing person report on November 30 last.

When the police contacted her husband, he willingly came forward to take her back home.

During a recent hearing, the woman — she was kept in Asha Kiran, a home for the mentally unstable in Rohini — and her husband were brought to the court. After the investigating officer (IO) verified the husband’s credentials, the police had no objection to reunite the woman with her family.

The magistrate said, “The patient be handed over to her husband after completion of necessary formalities in Asha Kiran. The woman’s husband was also directed to ensure proper treatment of the woman is continued.”

The court also commended inspector Devender Kumar Singh, station house officer of Kashmere Gate police station and Sub inspector Satender Singh for making “untiring efforts” to trace the woman’s family and reunite her with them.

The woman, who was found by police near Kashmere Gate in February, was also admitted to Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences for treatment. To ascertain the aspect of sexual abuse, she was also examined by the doctors at a government hospital here, but they found no visible signs of such assault and her pregnancy test was negative.

Half-way homes serve as a stop-gap place for people who have undergone treatment for mental illness before they venture into the real world. The HC had in 2009 passed directions for making half-way homes after a public interest litigation was filed on the issue.