Tags:
Journalism of Courage
He had gone missing from his Gujarat home the day a mob torched coaches of the Sabarmati Express in 2002. Seven months later, the mentally-challenged youth was found at a Chennai bus stop with burn injuries on chest and a broken leg.
Moti (22) left for home this week. The authorities of Anbagam, a home for mental patients where Moti stayed for the past 18 months, contacted the Godhra railway police after the youth told his story in bits.
Moti claims a mob broke his leg when he tried to save those trapped in a fire. The Anbagam authorities had sent Moti’s photo to the Godhra Station Superintendent, who passed it on to the police.
Then, Moti’s brother Jeethu Bhai and an uncle came to Chennai and Moti recognised them. ‘‘We thought he had perished in the Godhra fires,’’ Jeethu Bhai said. That day, Moti had wandered off from Jeethu’s eatery near the station. ‘‘He would often hang around at the station…when he did not come back that day, we filed a complaint,’’ says his uncle.
Anbagam managing trustee M.P. Mohammed Rafi said: ‘‘The only thing he said during the first few months was ‘Godhra’.’’ From Anbagam, Moti was taken to GH for medical treatment. ‘‘The bone regeneration of his leg was skewed as it had been left unattended,’’ Rafi said. ‘‘The doctors said it would need surgery and physiotherapy.’’
But what about the seven months before he was found in Chennai? ‘‘He only told us that he lived at different railway stations,’’ Rafi said.
