Kolkata: A 60-year-old flower seller from Odisha, Bela Behera, is set to reunite with her family nearly 10 years after she went missing while travelling to Kolkata to buy flowers before Rath Yatra.After she disappeared, police rescued her while she was wandering. She had been living at the government-run Tokiya Senior Citizen Home in Jiaganj, Murshidabad. Her family in Ganjam district, Odisha, kept searching for her for years.Ham radio volunteers from the West Bengal Radio Club traced her family in Gounju village, Ganjam. Her youngest son, Keshab, has left for Murshidabad to bring her home.Ambarish Nag Biswas, secretary of WBRC, said: “For the past ten years, Bela has been living at the Central Government-run Tokiya Senior Citizen Home in Jiaganj, Murshidabad, after she was found wandering and rescued by police. Despite repeated attempts by the authorities and court-directed inquiries, her family could not be traced. The biggest obstacle was that Bela spoke only Odia and could neither understand nor communicate in any other language.”Bela had raised her three sons by selling flowers. She was living with Keshab and his children before she went missing. After her disappearance, the family stopped going to Puri for Rath Yatra, a tradition they had followed since childhood.Keshab said: “We prayed every year to Lord Jagannath to bring our mother back. We promised we would return to Puri only with her.”After a Berhampore court ordered that Bela be reunited with her family quickly, shelter home superintendent Arpita Lahiri contacted the West Bengal Radio Club for help.Lahiri said: “The emotional reunion took place over a video call. Seeing his mother on the screen after ten long years, her son broke down in tears. During the video call, words gave way to silence as mother and son wept together across the distance.”This Rath Yatra, Bela is expected to return home and stand with her family again before Lord Jagannath.
