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‘Dead’ in Kedarnath floods to theft charges: Man is united with family 12 yrs later

Clue about his school helped mental hospital piece together his past

4 min readPuneUpdated: Dec 7, 2025 10:11 AM IST

Pune hospital unites man with family, hospital unites man with family, 2013 Kedarnath floods, Kedarnath floods, Indian express news, current affairs

Shivam with Pune's Regional Mental Hospital staff.

Shivam had gone missing during the devastating Kedarnath floods of 2013, which killed a few thousands. With no trace of him for days after, his brother even went ahead and performed his symbolic last rites. But Shivam, who was living with polio, had survived and landed in Sambhajinagar (formerly Aurangabad) in Maharashtra, with no recollection of how he got there.

In 2021, the temple at which he was staying in Sambhajinagar was burgled and the robbers, who were subsequently arrested, dragged Shivam’s name into the case. The judge before whom he was produced ordered his rehabilitation at Pune’s Regional Mental Hospital (RMH) for “disorganised schizophrenia”.

At the government-run mental hospital that presently has 1,037 inmates, a small detail about Shivam’s school in Roorkee triggered an intense but successful search for his family. With the court ruling out his complicity in the temple burglary and the RMH giving him a discharge, Shivam, 55, was reunited with his brother on Friday.

Dr Shriniwas Kolod, Superintendent at the RMH, told The Indian Express that this was the first-ever rehabilitation of a longstanding case of an unidentified prisoner-patient at their facility. “It was the relentless efforts of our dedicated team that helped in this rehabilitation,” he said.

Rohini Bhosale, Social Service Superintendent at RMH, recalled the difficulties they faced in trying to get information out of Shivam to know where he hailed from. “I tried to figure out some words that he would speak in Hindi, but it was more of a Pahari dialect which was not easy to understand. He also dragged his feet due to polio and I wondered how he could have been involved in a robbery,” she said, as she and her team set about responding sensitively and dedicatedly to the case. It was out of the blue that one day in 2023 he responded to a question about his school, Prem Vidyalaya in Roorkee. It was just this kind of concrete information the team was looking for.

With renewed urgency, Bhosale and the team contacted the police station at Roorkee tehsil in Haridwar district. “We soon got information about his relatives and also learned that he had completed Class 12 from Prem Vidyalaya,” she said.

Bhosale and the others explained Shivam’s mental condition, disorganised schizophrenia, which centres around symptoms like confused thinking and disorganised speech and actions. Bhosale was also consistently helped by other staff. They also informed his family members about the burglary case and remained connected with them via video calls. “The very first video call was a deeply emotional one, with both brothers being moved to tears,” she recalled.

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In 2023, she approached the Shivur police station, where the officers were unaware of the case. However, on checking the old records, the then-officer-in-charge, ASI Vaibhav Rankhamb, found that no chargesheet had been prepared in the case.

The chargesheet was soon prepared and Shivam started to receive court summons. During this time, the case was delayed again by six months due to the judge’s transfer in Vaijapur court. Meanwhile, Shivam’s relatives started to visit him and also hired a lawyer to represent him.

The burglary case came up for hearing at the JMFC Vaijapur court in 2023, where Shivam was declared innocent in 2024. RMH got the court order only last month.

Meanwhile Dr Shama Rathod, Dr Varsha Bedagkar, Dr Ingle, Dr. Amit Gosavi and others supported Bhosale and team in their rehabilitation efforts.

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Shivam’s family members, who have taken him back home, refused to comment about Shivam or the case.

Dr Kolod added that 400 mentally-ill inmates at their facility have been rehabilitated in the last few years. Many of them have even been sent to government centres where they work and earn.

Anuradha Mascarenhas

Anuradha Mascarenhas is a Senior Editor at The Indian Express, based in Pune. With a career spanning three decades, she is one of the most respected voices in Indian journalism regarding healthcare, science and environment and research developments. She also takes a keen interest in covering women's issues . Professional Background Education: A gold medalist in Communication and Journalism from Savitribai Phule Pune University and a Master’s degree in Literature. Author: She authored the biography At The Wheel Of Research, which chronicles the life and work of Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, the former Chief Scientist at the WHO. Key Focus: She combines scientific accuracy with storytelling, translating complex medical research into compelling public and human-interest narratives. Awards and Recognition Anuradha has won several awards including the Press Council of India's national award for excellence in journalism under the gender based reporting category in 2019 and the Laadli Media award (gender sensitivity -2024). A recipient of the Lokmat journalism award (gender category-2022), she was also shortlisted for the RedInk awards for excellence in journalism-2021. Her debut book At The Wheel Of Research, an exclusive biography of Dr Soumya Swaminathan the inaugural chief scientist of World Health Organisation was also nominated in the Popular Choice Category of JK Paper AUTHER awards. She has also secured competitive fellowships including the Laadli Media Fellowship (2022), the Survivors Against TB – New Research in TB Media Fellowship (2023) and is part of the prestigious 2025 India Cohort of the WomenLift Health Leadership Journey.” Recent Notable Articles (Late 2025) 1. Cancer & Specialized Medical Care "Tata Memorial finds way to kill drug-resistant cancer cells" (Nov 26, 2025): Reporting on a breakthrough for triple-negative breast cancer, one of the most aggressive forms of the disease. Discipline, diet and purpose; How a 97-year-old professor defies ageing'' (Nov 15, 2025) Report about Prof Gururaj Mutalik, the first Head of Department at Pune's B J Government Medical College who at 97 credits his longevity to healthy habits and a strong sense of purpose. 2. Environmental Health (The "Breathless Pune" Series) Long-term exposure even to 'moderate' air leads to chronic heart, lung, kidney issues" (Nov 26, 2025): Part of an investigative series highlighting that even "safe" pollution levels are damaging to vital organs. "For every 10 µg/m3 increase in PM2.5 level, there was 6-8% jump in medicine sales" (Nov 23, 2025): Using commercial data to prove the direct link between air quality and respiratory illnesses in Pune. 3. Lifestyle & Wellness News "They didn't let cancer, diabetes and heart disease stop them from travelling" (Dec 22, 2025): A collaborative piece featuring survivors who share practical tips for traveling with chronic conditions. At 17, his BP shot up to 200/120 mmHG; Lancet study flags why child and teen hypertension doubled between 2000 and 2020'' (Nov 12,2025)--A report that focusses on 17-year-old-boy's hypertensive crisis and reflects the rising global trend of high blood pressure among children and adolescents. 4. Scientific Recognition & Infrastructure For promoting sci-comm, gender diversity: IUCAA woman prof highlighted in Nature" (Nov 25, 2025): Covering the global recognition of Indian women scientists in gender studies and physics. Pune researchers find a spiral galaxy like the Milky Way from early universe'' (December 3, 2025)- A report on how Indian researchers discovered a massive galaxy that existed when the universe was just 1.5 billion years old , one of the earliest to have been observed so far. Signature Beat: Health, Science & Women in Leadership Anuradha is known for her COVID-19 reportage, where she was one of the first journalists to provide detailed insights into the Covishield and Covaxin trials. She has a dedicated interest in gender diversity in health and science, often profiling women researchers who are breaking the "leaky pipeline" in STEM fields. Her writing style is scrupulous, often featuring interviews with top-tier scientists and health experts from various institutions. ... Read More

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