Kolkata/Jharkhand: In a poignant story of loss, faith, and fractured family ties, a 70-year-old woman from Jharkhand who had been missing for 25 years was recently traced to her native village — only to be refused acceptance by her own son, allegedly over religious differences.
Sushila Murmu, a resident of Dahupagar village in Jharkhand’s Godda district, has spent the last two decades in a shelter home in Kolkata. After years of counseling and medical care to address memory loss, she was finally able to recall details of her home and family. What seemed like the beginning of a long-awaited reunion, however, ended in heartbreak.
According to reports, Murmu went missing shortly after the death of her husband. While her husband followed Hindu traditions, Murmu continued to practice Christianity. Villagers claim that after her husband’s death, she was pressured by neighbors and relatives to adopt Hinduism. She reportedly refused to change her faith and was subsequently asked to leave her home and village.
Her son, Madan Besra, still lives in the same village house from where she disappeared more than two decades ago. During a recent video call arranged by social workers, mother and son spoke for the first time in 25 years. According to Murmu, her son told her he could not take her back unless she converted to Hinduism.
“He said he cannot accept me unless I change my religion. But I will not abandon my faith,” Murmu reportedly told shelter home staff. That conversation, she said, was their last.
Madan Besra, however, has defended his stance, stating that his father and grandfather were Hindus and that his mother should now follow the same tradition if she wishes to return home.
Murmu was reportedly discovered in 2001 by a member of the Missionaries of Charity and brought to a Kolkata shelter, where she has lived ever since. Over the years, she gradually came to regard the shelter as her home, though she occasionally spoke of her husband and family.
Her story resurfaced when a shelter home employee shared it with an amateur radio operator, who circulated her photograph through a local network. The effort ultimately led to the identification of her native village and the re-establishment of contact with her family.
Mahavir Pandit, in-charge of Poriyahat Police Station, has said he plans to visit the village and speak with the son in an attempt to persuade him to accept his mother. Local panchayat representative Vikesh Kumar also confirmed that he knows the family but was unaware that Murmu had left home decades ago.
The case has raised broader questions about religious freedom, familial responsibility, and the vulnerability of elderly women who find themselves isolated after the loss of a spouse. For now, Sushila Murmu remains at the Kolkata shelter — a place she never intended to call home, but which may be the only one she has left.