Lost and found: Thanks to Aadhaar, a mentally-ill woman reunites with her family

Aadhaar helped mentally-ill woman find her family in Rajasthan.

New Delhi, April 10: At a time when doubts over Aadhaar have been raised over the issue of privacy, a woman from Rajasthan, suffering from mental illness, got reunited with her family recently because her biometric details existed with the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI).

In November last year, the 31-year-old woman from Rajasthan's Alwar district went missing from her house. Her husband had lodged a missing complaint about her in the Malakhera police station in Alwar district on November 30, 2017. However, she could not be traced.

As her family was struggling to find their beloved, the Delhi police rescued her after she was found abandoned on roads. As the police had no clue about her address, she was sent to a short-stay home, Nirmal Chhaya, by a court which had directed the authorities to help her undergo Aadhaar registration.

In the process of making her Aadhaar card, it was revealed that her biometric records pre-existed in the Aadhaar database and the Delhi Police were able to obtain her details from the UIDAI.

The consistent efforts of the court to reunite her with her family proved fruitful when metropolitan magistrate Abhilash Malhotra was informed by police officials that they have found her antecedents. When the police contacted her husband, he willingly came forward to take her back home.

During a recent hearing, the woman, who was kept in Asha Kiran, a home for the mentally disabled in Rohini, Delhi and her husband were brought to the court. The investigating officer submitted that they have verified the credentials of the man and the police has no objection to the reintegration of the woman to her family.

"Accordingly, the patient was handed over to her husband after completion of necessary formalities in Asha Kiran. The husband of the woman has been directed to ensure proper treatment of the patient is continued," the magistrate said.

The family of the woman said that they are indebted to the UIDAI because of which she was reunited with them.