One word, 9 years later: ‘Phulpada’ brings missing Guj woman home from Lucknow | Lucknow News

For nine long years, a man in Gujarat lived with the unanswered question of where his missing mother had gone. He searched police stations, shelters and every possible place where he thought she might have been found. But there was no trace of her. Then, in a Lucknow police station, a single word spoken by a distressed woman reopened a trail that had gone cold for nearly a decade.

For nine long years, a man in Gujarat lived with the unanswered question of where his missing mother had gone. He searched police stations, shelters and every possible place where he thought she might have been found. But there was no trace of her. Then, in a Lucknow police station, a single word spoken by a distressed woman reopened a trail that had gone cold for nearly a decade.

For nine long years, a man in Gujarat lived with the unanswered question of where his missing mother had gone. He searched police stations, shelters and every possible place where he thought she might have been found. But there was no trace of her. Then, in a Lucknow police station, a single word spoken by a distressed woman reopened a trail that had gone cold for nearly a decade.

For nine long years, a man in Gujarat lived with the unanswered question of where his missing mother had gone. He searched police stations, shelters and every possible place where he thought she might have been found. But there was no trace of her. Then, in a Lucknow police station, a single word spoken by a distressed woman reopened a trail that had gone cold for nearly a decade.

For nine long years, a man in Gujarat lived with the unanswered question of where his missing mother had gone. He searched police stations, shelters and every possible place where he thought she might have been found. But there was no trace of her. Then, in a Lucknow police station, a single word spoken by a distressed woman reopened a trail that had gone cold for nearly a decade.

For nine long years, a man in Gujarat lived with the unanswered question of where his missing mother had gone. He searched police stations, shelters and every possible place where he thought she might have been found. But there was no trace of her. Then, in a Lucknow police station, a single word spoken by a distressed woman reopened a trail that had gone cold for nearly a decade.

For nine long years, a man in Gujarat lived with the unanswered question of where his missing mother had gone. He searched police stations, shelters and every possible place where he thought she might have been found. But there was no trace of her. Then, in a Lucknow police station, a single word spoken by a distressed woman reopened a trail that had gone cold for nearly a decade.

For nine long years, a man in Gujarat lived with the unanswered question of where his missing mother had gone. He searched police stations, shelters and every possible place where he thought she might have been found. But there was no trace of her. Then, in a Lucknow police station, a single word spoken by a distressed woman reopened a trail that had gone cold for nearly a decade.

For nine long years, a man in Gujarat lived with the unanswered question of where his missing mother had gone. He searched police stations, shelters and every possible place where he thought she might have been found. But there was no trace of her. Then, in a Lucknow police station, a single word spoken by a distressed woman reopened a trail that had gone cold for nearly a decade.

For nine long years, a man in Gujarat lived with the unanswered question of where his missing mother had gone. He searched police stations, shelters and every possible place where he thought she might have been found. But there was no trace of her. Then, in a Lucknow police station, a single word spoken by a distressed woman reopened a trail that had gone cold for nearly a decade.

For nine long years, a man in Gujarat lived with the unanswered question of where his missing mother had gone. He searched police stations, shelters and every possible place where he thought she might have been found. But there was no trace of her. Then, in a Lucknow police station, a single word spoken by a distressed woman reopened a trail that had gone cold for nearly a decade.

Lucknow: For nine years, a Gujarat man lived with the unanswered question of what happened to his missing mother. He searched police stations, shelters and every place he thought she might be found, but there was no trace of her.Then, at a police station in Lucknow, a single word spoken by a distressed woman reopened a trail that had gone cold for nearly a decade.“Phulpada.”It was one of the few words 55-year-old Ratanben could utter when women police personnel at Hazratganj police station tried to establish her identity after she was found wandering near Baalu Adda in Lucknow in a distressed condition. That lone clue proved to be the breakthrough police had been looking for.Hazratganj SHO Vikram Singh said Ratanben appeared to be mentally unwell and could provide only fragmented details about herself. During questioning, however, she repeatedly mentioned “Phulpada”.Police searched the name on Google Maps and identified a locality by that name in Gujarat. The clue was shared with Gujarat Police, which linked it to a missing-person case registered in 2017.The trail eventually led investigators to Surat, where they traced Ratanben’s family and contacted her son, Vishal Jayesh Bhai. For Vishal, the news was almost impossible to believe.After years of searching for his mother, he finally saw her again during a video call arranged by Hazratganj police on Wednesday. For several moments, he could only stare at the woman he had spent years trying to find before breaking down in tears.The reunion became even more emotional the next day.Accompanied by Gujarat Police, a friend and another relative, Vishal travelled to Lucknow and reached Hazratganj police station. Ratanben was seated inside the SHO’s room when he walked in.Mother and son recognised each other instantly.They hugged and cried as years of separation gave way to an emotional reunion. Ratanben tightly held Vishal’s hand and refused to let go for a long time, while police personnel present at the station tried to comfort the family.According to Vishal, his mother’s mental health deteriorated after a series of personal losses, including the deaths of her husband, Jayesh Bhai Rauthar, her maternal uncle and her grandmother.She had left home once before but returned after a few days. However, around 2017, following Vishal’s marriage and the birth of his son, she disappeared again.What followed was a years-long search that ended nearly a decade later, thanks to a single word and the persistence of police across two states, culminating in an emotional reunion between a mother and her son.