Nagpur: Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu’s timely intervention brought closure to a six-year ordeal, reuniting a 43-year-old woman Devkka (name changed) with her family at Regional Mental Hospital (RMH) in Nagpur. Devkka, who hails from a village in Andhra Pradesh, developed psychiatric illness after her marriage in 2017. In 2020, her condition deteriorated sharply, causing her to leave her in-laws’ home. Her family relentlessly searched for her and then gave up. Devkka was eventually found by Maharashtra police in a highly distressed state in Chandrapur district. On February 11, 2022, Ramnagar police brought her to RMH, Nagpur, on orders of the JMFC first class court.At the hospital, she couldn’t recollect her name or origin, displayed aggression, severe hearing impairment, and fragmented speech, which made tracing her roots extremely difficult.Under the care of psychiatrist Dr Pankaj Bagde, medical superintendent Dr Satish Humne, and social service superintendent Kunda Katekhaye Bidkar, Devkka’s condition improved with treatment and dedicated counselling.For nearly four years, Bidkar painstakingly gathered clues from Devkka — through gestures and broken conversations in Telugu and a crucial recurring detail she shared was that her brother makes cane baskets.Bidkar made tireless efforts which included contacting police stations in Telangana — Hyderabad, Bowenpally, Govindpally, Bollapalle, Karampudi, Malkajgiri, village sarpanches and secretaries, NGOs like Shri Annam Seva Foundation and Marpu Foundation Telangana, and arranging video calls. Searches then extended to Guntur and Nandyal districts in November 2024. In June 2025, the Kadapa superintendent of police offered help, but his transfer stalled progress. The breakthrough came in September 2025 when Bidkar sent an email to the Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu’s office for assistance. The email reached Naidu’s attention during his visit to Prakasam and Markapuram districts last month. He personally reviewed the case, raised it during the visit, and issued orders for swift action.On February 21, Bidkar received enquiries from the Prakasam district collector’s office. She shared key details, including Devkka’s probable links to a village in Prakasam. Joint collector Kalpana Kumari assured cooperation and after two days, tehsildar M Anjaneya Reddy located Devkka’s brother to a remote hamlet in the district using the cane basket-making clue. Tehsil records provided official identity documentation to enable the reunion.A Prakasam team, including D Neelima Vansilatha (child magistrate and child welfare committee member), legal officer Ratna Prasad, and Devkka’s brother and brother-in-law travelled to Nagpur.The heartfelt reunion occurred on Monday at RMH Nagpur, closing a chapter once deemed impossible, with multiple abandoned attempts along the way.In her final years at RMH, Devkka would repeatedly pack her bags, say her goodbyes to ward mates, and insist her family was coming — long before it became reality. The Andhra Pradesh govt is now exploring rehabilitation of Devkka.
