Pune: A woman who was abandoned as a baby in Maharashtra’s Vaijanath temple of Parli more than two decades ago has returned from France seeking her roots in India.
A woman sweeping the inner sanctum of the temple found her in a basket on June 8, 2002, The Indian Express reported.
Vinayak Khiste, who looked after the temple, was immediately alerted about the discovery of the baby in the basket.
Years later, Khiste still remembers the incident vividly: ‘We found her at 7am. When I first saw her, she looked like a healthy baby.’
‘When she started crying, I said to her, “Don’t cry little baby, life is for being happy”, and she chuckled. Today, she has come back and she is crying again,’ Khiste added.
Khiste took the baby to the nearest police station and thus help furnishing the procedures.
A medical report submitted to police at the time according to Khiste confirmed she was 30 days old.
Subsequently, she was taken to Pandharpur Navrange Balakashram before she was sent to Pune’s Preet Mandir institution from where she was adopted in 2003, according to the report.
Returning to the temple for Neha, who was adopted by a family in France, evokes a plethora of emotions.
“I am feeling very emotional looking at the place where I was left behind. I will be very happy if I can get to meet my biological parents once. I have come back with the hope of meeting them,” she reportedly said.
Lawyer Anjali Pawar, who is helping Neha find her parents since 2020 said “We traced back as much as we could. The FIR was registered back then by ASI Puri’ .
Pawar added: ‘Children who get adopted abroad usually know from early on that they are adopted. They have the curiosity to know Indian culture and know from where they have come. She couldn’t come here during Covid, but now she is finally here.’