Thanks to a Tattoo, Odisha Woman Missing for 35 Years Traced to Himachal Pradesh, Watch
by Himanshu · KalingaTVAdvertisement
Kendrapara: Thanks to a Tattoo, Odisha Woman Missing for 35 Years Traced to Himachal Pradesh. A faded tattoo on an elderly woman’s hand has done what 35 years of searching could not. It has brought Pramila Mallik home.
Pramila, from Nandalalpatana village in Pattamundai block of Kendrapara district in Odisha, had disappeared over three decades ago.
Married to Dinabandhu Mallik, she left for her parental village Baluria just 37 days after giving birth to a son, while struggling with mental health issues. She never returned.
Her family searched everywhere. With time, hope faded. Believing Pramila would never be found, Dinabandhu married her younger sister Urmila to raise the infant.
Life moved on. The son grew up, the family expanded, and three years ago, Dinabandhu passed away without ever knowing if his first wife was alive.
The breakthrough came far from Odisha, in the hills of Himachal Pradesh.
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In Balh area of Mandi district, an old woman was living a quiet, anonymous life. Locals did not know her past. During a casual interaction, an Odia man living there noticed a small tattoo on her hand. It was a name written in Odia script.
That single clue triggered a chain of calls. Photos were shared, village elders were contacted, and the dots finally connected to a family in Kendrapara that had been waiting since 1990.
For her son, who was only 37 days old when she went missing, the first sight of his mother came on a video call. An unfamiliar face, but an unbreakable bond. The family broke down in tears.
While the reunion has brought immense joy, it has also left a void. The man who waited for her the longest, Dinabandhu, is no more to witness this miracle.
The family, who believes it to be Lord Jagannath’s blessing, is now making arrangements to bring Pramila back from Himachal to her own soil, to the home that has kept its doors open for 35 years.
Also read: Goddess Holds Thief Captive: Divine Miracle at Maa Khambeswari Temple in Sonepur, Watch
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