Mentally Challenged Girl Who Went Missing in 2013 Kedarnath Floods, Reunites with Family

In a fairy tale ending of a real-life story, a 17-year-old, mentally challenged girl, who had gone missing in Kedarnath during 2013 deluge there, has been reunited with her family in Aligarh after five years.

Kedarnath Shrine (Photo credit: PTI/File)

Aligarh December 26: In a fairy tale ending of a real-life story, a 17-year-old, mentally challenged girl, who had gone missing in Kedarnath during 2013 deluge there, has been reunited with her family in Aligarh after five years.

Elated over the return of their long-lost grand-daughter Chanchal, her grandparents parents Harish Chand and Shakuntla Devi, residents of Bannadevi locality here, said, "This reunion is nothing short of a miracle."

Chanchal had gone to Kedarnath on a pilgrimage with her parents when the tragedy struck, sweeping away her father, while her mother returned home after sometime, Harish Chand told media persons here Monday. 'Char Dham' Project to Connect Kedarnath, Badrinath, Yamunotri And Gangotri: Government Approves Rs 1,384 Cr Silkyara Bend-Barkot Tunnel.

Chanchal, then 12, was feared dead but some good samaritans handed her over to an orphanage in Jammu, said director Gyanendra Mishra of NGO Childline Aligarh which helped in bringing the girl home.

For the last few months, the orphanage management had been observing that the girl often tried to communicate something about Aligarh city through her limited verbal skills, Mishra said.

They somehow got in touch with Aligarh city legislator Sanjiv Raja who then took Mishra's assistance. Mishra, in turn, managed to identify the family of the lost girl with the help of police, and restored her to it. Chachal still misses her long-lost father Rajesh and keeps remembering him, Harish Chand said.

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