NEW DELHI: On June 8, 2008, when six-year-old Arif stepped out of his Kapashera house around 4pm to buy a toffee from a local shop, little did he know he would not be seeing any of his family members for almost two decades. The little boy lost his way and went missing, leaving his parents, Ehsan and Afshana Khan, shattered.
Nearly 17 years on, Arif, now 23, has been reunited with his family in Haryana's Panchkula. Recounting the harrowing experience on the day he got separated from them, Arif told TOI: "When I left the shop, I followed a man who lived nearby, thinking he was heading home. We took several turns, but suddenly, the man got into a vehicle and left. I was far from home and didn't know the way, and ended up reaching Gurgaon. Some college students found me and informed the police."
Arif was taken to the office of the helpline for missing children, where he stayed for a month, hoping his parents would find him. "Thereafter, I stayed in various orphanages and childcare institutions. For a few years after I went missing, I held onto the hope of being reunited with my parents, but it slowly began to fade," he said.
During this period, Arif lived with other children who found themselves in similar situations. "They would share stories of how they went missing, and we would discuss our problems. Over time, I shifted my focus to my studies."
After he turned 17, Arif began living in a state aftercare institution in Sonipat, where he is also pursuing a Bachelor of Arts degree from a college.
Recalling the family's desperate search, Arif's mother Afshana said, "We travelled to different states, including Bihar and Bengal, and visited several children's homes looking for my son. Whenever someone claimed that a child had been found, we would go and check." She also claimed she had to run pillar to post to get a missing case registered initially.
Afshana had nearly lost hope when her husband received a phone call on March 24 informing him Arif had been found. "He was working in Faridabad at the time. We both rushed to Haryana and finally saw our son again," she said.
Sub-inspector Rajesh Kumar from Panchkula's anti-human trafficking unit played a crucial role in bringing the 17-year-old case to a proper closure. In March this year, he went through all the records and visited Kapashera for a thorough investigation. "I found that the family had relocated. Their native place was Agra, so I went there and gathered information that led me to Sangam Vihar, where they now reside," he told TOI.
When he went missing, Arif told police he remembered only his father's name, Ehsan, and one small detail -- that the place where he stayed in Kapashera was near a drain. When the investigating officer visited the spot this year, he found that this detail matched the location.
Arif also had a cut on the left side of his head, which he sustained when he was aged four. Years on, this mark remained a defining feature, becoming a crucial piece of evidence that confirmed Arif's identity.
Recalling the moment when a police officer told him they had found his parents, Arif said, "I was sitting in my room when a cop told me the news. My hope had dwindled over time, so I didn't believe it at first." However, when he finally saw his parents, he hugged them both tightly.
Arif is now looking to secure the future of his family. His father works as an electrician while his mother is a homemaker. He has four younger siblings, one of whom is married. "My goal is to get a govt job in the railway department," he said.