With tears in her eyes, Tamil Nadu resident Jattvibedari hugged her son Prakash (born Prakaasam) after finally seeing him again — whom she had presumed dead for 23 years.A journalist, an NGO, two deputy commissioners and a mother’s grit finally reunited the Coimbatore man with his family hundreds of kilometres away.The boy, who ran away from his house in Tamil Nadu nearly 23 years ago, suffered various hardships — he was chained, made to sleep with cattle and held captive for over 18 years near the Indo-Pakistan border before being rescued in 2022.In July 2022, an NGO — the Apna Farz Seva Society — rescued Prakash from a village near Ajnala where he was working as bonded labour.He was made to sleep with cattle, kept chained at night and given two meals a day for looking after the livestock. He was rescued and brought to the Apna Farz Seva Society shelter home in Patiala’s Lachkani village. However, it took a lot of time to get him treated as he had lost his mental balance due to the inhumane conditions in which he was confined.“His mental condition got better with time, but understanding his language was still a problem. Nevertheless, we got some idea that he was a Tamilian. A few months ago, we got in touch with a journalist, Muthaiah, from the Palladam area in Tiruppur district of Tamil Nadu,” said Apna Farz Seva Society volunteers.As fate would have it, on July 1, Muthaiah traced Jattvibedari just 25 km from his own village. He informed her that her son was alive. Jattvibedari approached Coimbatore District Collector Pawan Kumar G Kiriappanavar, who realised the mother’s struggle and made arrangements to bring Prakash from Punjab. Accordingly, documents were sent to the Patiala Deputy Commissioner and administrators of the Apna Farz Seva Society in Lachkani, Patiala.Jattvibedari is based in Poomalaipatti Anaikulam village in Virudhunagar district of Tamil Nadu. She recalled how Prakash left home in 2003 after a minor misunderstanding with his parents. “We searched for him at several places but could not trace him. A couple of months later, Prakash contacted us and said he was in Chennai. Despite earnest efforts, we could not find him, and presumed him dead,” said Jattvibedari.On July 27, Prakash’s mother Jattvibedari, brother Prabhu and journalist Muthaiah went to the Apna Farz Seva Society in Lachkani and also approached the Chandigarh Tamil Sangam and informed them about the matter. Tamil Sangam volunteers arranged a meeting of Prakash, who was being kept in the shelter, with Jattvibedari in the presence of police and district officials.“Finally, I got to see my son before I bid adieu to the world. It is a miracle; it feels as if my son has got a second birth to hug me,” says Jattvibedari, tears of joy rolling down her cheeks as she hugged her son.