3 min readRanchiFeb 19, 2026 04:48 PM IST
First published on: Feb 19, 2026 at 06:24 AM IST
In 2012, six-year-old Raja Gope from Jharkhand’s Chaibasa was headed to Howrah, West Bengal, with his father for brick kiln work. Instead, he was separated from his father and boarded the wrong train that took him to Kerala.
Fourteen years later, Raja Gope, now 20 and no longer a boy, is set to reunite with his family, thanks to the intervention of activists.
This month, Gope will meet his family. According to Fardeen Khan, a Jharkhand project programme lead with the non-profit Railway Children, Gope boarded a train that brought him to Ernakulam, Kerala, where he was rescued by activists and placed in a shelter home.
“He remembered only the name of his hometown, Chaibasa, the first names of his parents, and the names of some other family members, but not the exact location of his village,” said Khan.
It was when Gope moved to Kannur under the Kerala Child Welfare Committee’s (CWC) skill development and rehabilitation programme that the wheels began to turn for his reunion with family. Soon, local activists in Kannur put him in touch with Khan, who helped circulate a video of Gope in Jharkhand’s Chaibasa.
By the time the video reached the Gope family in Harimara village in West Singhbhum district, much had changed. Raja’s father died four years ago, leaving the family – his wife Mani and their surviving children to fend for themselves as daily wage labourers.
So, when the family learnt that Raja was alive, they were overjoyed but it was tinged with regret. “I’m very happy that my son is alive and will return home. I would have been happier if my husband were alive today to see his son,” she said.
An official from the Jharkhand Women and Child Development (WCD) Department said they are coordinating with the Kerala WCD department and that the family will reunite after some paperwork is completed.
“Efforts are being made to bring the boy back to Jharkhand and link him to rehabilitation schemes,” MD Shamim, a member of the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) in Chaibasa, said. “The first step would be to complete the transfer process. After the transfer, we will try to link him with the After Care scheme and skill training programmes,” Shamim added.
Raja Gope now (L), Raja Gope at 6 
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