Liton Bhumij, a 25-year-old Bangladeshi man, accidentally entered India in 2017. At the time little did he know that he would next meet his family four years later. And his family back home had almost lost all hopes of finding him again. Because they said, he was different. 

In 2019, Sujan Debroy, an Indian social activist, came across a man, wandering in a tea garden in Assam, a northeastern state, which shares a long  border with Bangladesh. The man’s features resembled a missing person his friends from Bangladesh had posted on Facebook. 

However, the man was unable to tell much about himself and his family. He was autistic, a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by difficulties with social interaction and communication. Debroy then turned to social media. 

He did a Facebook live with the man, in hope of finding someone from Bangladesh who could take note of it, and help him find his family. And, it worked. The video reached Liton’s family in Bangladesh, who immediately recognized him. Knowing his condition, they were happy to see him alive. 

However, getting him wasn’t that easy though. 

“It took time to communicate with the immigration officials of both the countries and suddenly the pandemic struck,” Debroy was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times. The paperwork and other formalities, required for his deportation, were completed only last week.

“He is autistic and it was difficult to convince him to go to the border for his deportation,” Debroy said. This week, his family received Liton at the Satarkandi border, in the presence of the officials of both countries. 

“He is different, not like others,” said teary-eyed Reena, Liton’s mother. “This is why I was more worried. Few kind people from India and Bangladesh helped me to get my son back,” she added. However, instead of addressing his mother as “Maa’, Liton addressed her as his mother-in-law and referred to his own brother as a friend, which made everyone around there laugh, the paper reported. 

A video of the emotional reunion that happened  after almost four years also went viral on social media. 

(SAM)