We, the People

By Sunil Thapliyal

On Wednesday, while waiting for a bus to return home, I was surprised when a girl came to me and asked me, “Can I make a call from your mobile? I noticed that she was around 25 years of age, was a bit unusual, not able to talk properly. However, she spoke fluent English and seemed to be from a good family.

I did not want to refuse instantly so I decided to gauge her intentions. So, at first, I gave her a phone that had insufficient balance to make even a single call. She tried desperately to make calls but to no avail. I realised that something was wrong with her. I asked her to calm down and then gave her my second phone. She dialled many numbers, but nobody picked up the calls. Then she sent an SMS to someone and returned the phone to me. She asked me to delete the sent message. I realised that she was quite troubled. I asked her, “Are you all right?” She replied, “No, I’m not. I’m stressed and want to go back to my house. But I’ve forgotten the address.”

I then took her to the Police Headquarters helped by another man who was a lawyer by profession. Though she was not ready to go to the cops, we coaxed her to come with us as we felt that it would be unsafe for her to remain on the streets. The lawyer took down her personal information and called her hometown, which was in West Champaran, Bihar. The girl was a medical student and due to some family and personal problems she had become a bit disturbed.

When we called her relatives, we were surprised at their reaction. Most of them did not want to talk to us and we redialled their numbers, their phone was found switched off. All her relatives treated her as if she was mentally ill. At last, we managed to talk to her uncle who was in Noida. He assured the cops with us that he would be in ITO within an hour.

Soon her uncle came and she was handed over to him after doing his identity verification. This entire process of finding a relative who would take care of her lasted nearly three hours. I was really impressed by the lawyer who took out the time to help her even though he could have just finished this task within minutes — by handing her over to the cops.

The way in which the cops handled the situation was also impressive. As for me, it was nothing more then a relief that I had been able to help someone and would get a good night’s sleep without any burden of guilt in my heart.