Pune Mental Hospital Helps Reunite Man Lost In 2013 Kedarnath Floods With Family After 12 Years
Pune Mental Hospital Helps Reunite Man Lost In 2013 Kedarnath Floods With Family After 12 Years
Pune, December 8, 2025: A man presumed dead in the 2013 Kedarnath floods has been reunited with his family after 12 years, thanks to the efforts of Pune’s Regional Mental Hospital (RMH). Shivam, now 55, had gone missing during the catastrophic floods that claimed thousands of lives. With no sign of him for days, his brother performed symbolic last rites, assuming he had not survived.
However, Shivam—who lives with polio—had wandered hundreds of kilometres and eventually reached Chattrapati Sambhajinagar (Aurangabad) in Maharashtra. With no memory of how he arrived there, he began living in a local temple.
In 2021, a burglary at the temple changed the course of his life again. When the suspects were arrested, Shivam’s name was wrongfully included in the case. He was produced before a court, which ordered his rehabilitation at the Pune RMH after doctors noted signs of disorganised schizophrenia.
The real breakthrough came when RMH staff discovered a rare piece of information: Shivam remembered the name of his school in Roorkee—Prem Vidyalaya. This led the hospital team to contact Roorkee police, who located his family and confirmed his identity. It was the first substantial lead the team had gained in years.
RMH Superintendent Dr Shriniwas Kolod said this was the hospital’s first successful rehabilitation of a long-standing unidentified patient. Social Service Superintendent Rohini Bhosale, who led the search, recalled months of effort trying to understand Shivam’s speech, which mixed Hindi with a Pahari dialect. She said they became convinced he could not have been involved in the burglary, given his physical limitations and mental condition.
After verifying he had studied up to Class 12 in Roorkee, the hospital stayed in touch with his family through video calls. The first call was emotional, with both brothers breaking down on seeing each other after over a decade.
Once the police located the old burglary case files, a chargesheet was finally prepared, and hearings began. After delays due to administrative issues, Shivam was declared innocent in 2024. RMH received the formal discharge order last month, paving the way for his family to take him home.
Hospital officials said more than 400 mentally ill inmates have been rehabilitated in recent years, with many now employed in government-run centres.
Shivam’s family has taken him back to Uttarakhand but chose not to comment on the case, focusing instead on helping him settle back into familiar surroundings after years of uncertainty.
