Beggar on Mumbai footpath turns out to be missing medical student from Nanded, reunited with kin

MUMBAI: A routine police drive to rehabilitate beggars from the street took an extraordinary turn when a disoriented pavement dweller turned out to be a former medical student separated from his family during a mental health crisis. Digging deeper, police officers tracked down the youth’s family to Nanded, culminating in an emotional, late-night reunion at the Malad police station.

The chain of events unfolded on Thursday. While a police team was rounding up beggars from Malad’s SV Road, constable Komalsingh Jadhav spotted a man in his twenties on the pavement. He couldn’t answer any basic questions or speak coherently. Sensing that the man was in distress, Jadhav brought him to the police station.

Rather than processing him as just another routine case, the Malad police team chose empathy. They provided him with a warm bath and a hot meal. Once he was comfortable and calm, sub-inspector Manisha Kagalkar began to gently quiz him about his past. As the fog of trauma began to lift, the pieces of the puzzle fell into place.

The youth revealed his name was Abhay and that he was a third-year homeopathy student from Tamsa in Nanded district. Earlier this year, he had taken a train journey when his bag was stolen. He landed in Mumbai without any funds and without his family’s contact details which were written on a paper kept in his bag. Battling a pre-existing mental health condition and unable to recall his family’s phone number, Abhay eventually turned to begging just to survive.

Armed with these details, sub-inspector Kagalkar— working under the supervision of senior inspector Dushyant Chavan and DCP Sandip Ghuge — immediately contacted the Tamsa police station. The breakthrough was instant. Tamsa police confirmed that a missing person’s complaint had already been registered for a young man matching Abhay’s description.

Kagalkar got on the phone with Abhay’s father. He revealed that Abhay had been taking treatment for a mental health condition in Nanded. About a month-and-a-half ago, he left home without informing anyone, sparking a frantic search by his family members. Abhay’s father, a teacher, and his older brother, a doctor at a govt hospital, were praying for any sign of his whereabouts.

Following a swift exchange of photographs with the police for verification, Abhay’s family rushed to Mumbai.

The agonizing weeks of searching ended when the family walked into Malad Police station at 11pm. The moment his eyes fell on his son, Abhay’s father broke down. Amid the overwhelming relief, the family thanked the police team for finding Abhay and for showing compassion.