Mistaken as child lifter & beaten: Indore assault video reunites missing Meerut woman with kin after 18 months

INDORE: What began as a disturbing viral video ended in an emotional reunion for a Meerut family after an 18-month search for their missing mother.

This viral video showing a middle-aged woman being assaulted in Indore over suspicions of child lifting helped reunite her with her family. The video came to the attention of the victim's daughter in Meerut. After verifying the footage, she travelled to Indore and brought her mother, who had been missing for over a year and a half, safely back home.

The woman, 45-year-old Rekha Devi from Railway Road Colony in Meerut, had disappeared nearly 18 months ago after battling severe emotional distress following the deaths of her son and brother. Her family had filed a missing complaint, but despite repeated efforts, there was no breakthrough and hope gradually began to dim.

On Feb 6, Rekha was found wandering in Jeet Nagar under Bhanwarkuan police station limits in Indore. Mistaking her for a child lifter, some residents assaulted her. The shocking video of the attack soon spread across social media.

After the assault, Rekha was taken to Bhanwarkuan police station, where officers determined that she was mentally unstable and had no connection to any crime. With no one to claim her, she was released and wandered off again.

Hundreds of kilometres away in Meerut, her daughter Shivani froze when she saw the viral clip. Through the chaos in the video, she recognised her missing mother. Desperate but hopeful, she contacted those who had shared the footage and rushed to Indore with her family.

Following directions from Indore Police Commissioner Santosh Kumar Singh, the family reached Bhanwarkuan police station. Police traced Rekha's last known location to the Baigram area of Simrol and launched a search, asking the anxious family to wait at a nearby temple.

After two days, personnel from Simrol and Barwaha police stations, searching alongside the family, found Rekha at Khedighat in Barwaha.