23 years on, father’s quest for ‘missing’ son ends at mortuary

The mortuary at General Multi-Specialty Hospital, Sector 16, on Monday witnessed the culmination of a 23-year-old journey of hope, agony and denial for a 70-year-old, who eventually “met” his son, after he had died.

When Parshram (70) identified the body of Hansraj (38), it was the first time he was seeing him after his son walked out of home in Udhampur after an altercation, at the age of 15. He is believed to have worked as a truck driver at various places all this while.

A fortnight ago, he died of cardiac arrest while at a city grain market. “One of Hansraj’s employers provided us an Udhampur address,” said Inspector Ragbir Singh.

The Chandigarh Police contacted their Jammu counterparts, who in turn asked the family members to come to Chandigarh for identification. “Though I had not lost hope all these years, I did not expect this kind of a reunion,” said an emotional Parshram.