Sankranthi reunion: Missing elderly woman reaches family just as preparations begin for her final rites

A family in Andhra Pradesh witnessed an emotional Sankranthi reunion as a woman presumed dead returned home after nearly two and a half years, just days before her family planned her last rites, thanks to efforts by an NGO and police

Khammam: This Sankranthi festival could turn out to be the happiest one for a man’s family in Andhra Pradesh as his mother, who went missing and was presumed dead, reunited with the family just when they were planning to perform her last rites.

Speaking to Telangana Today, city-based Annam Foundation founder and para-volunteer Annam Srinivasa Rao, who runs an old age home and orphanage, said the police had brought a 70-year-old woman in poor health to the home in July 2023. She was found wandering at Tallampadu in Khammam rural mandal in the district. Her health improved after she was cared for.

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However, she could not recall her native village or her relatives as she remained in a forgetful state. After much coaxing, she responded a few days ago and said her name was Venkata Lakshmi and that she hailed from L Kota village in Andhra Pradesh.

Srinivasa Rao searched for the village online and found it in Khambham mandal of Prakasam district. He then, with the help of the local police and a resident of the village, confirmed her identity and obtained her son’s mobile number. Last Saturday, Srinivasa Rao made a video call to the woman’s eldest son Bala Guravaiah, who broke down on seeing his mother and reached Khammam the next day along with two members of his family. In an emotional reunion, he hugged his mother and wept.

Bala told Srinivasa Rao that his mother had left home without informing anyone while undergoing treatment at a hospital in Guntur in 2023. Meanwhile, Venkata Lakshmi’s husband Guravaiah, who was worried over his wife’s disappearance, died three days after the incident.

After searching for Venkata Lakshmi for nearly two and a half years, the family lost hope of finding her again. They planned to perform her last rites as per tradition after the Sankranthi festival, for which her son prepared her photo frame, which he carried with him to Khammam.

“The woman’s son Bala Guravaiah needs to be appreciated for his love for her and the effort he took in searching for her, as these days children are often found abandoning parents or not caring for them,” Srinivasa Rao noted. He felicitated Guravaiah and his mother before bidding adieu to them.