Indian woman who lost her memory goes home

An Indian woman who had lost her memory and spent nearly 10 months in a psychiatric hospital in the Kingdom was finally repatriated yesterday.
Shanta Kumari, 48, is a native of the West Godavari district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.
She was found on the streets of the town of Khafji in the Eastern Province, unable to remember who she was and how she ended up where she was found. The Saudi Red Crescent Society brought Kumari to a psychiatric hospital in Dammam where she remained under medical care for almost 10 months. In the hospital, she remembered her name. Officials were able to decipher that she was from Andhra Pradesh based on her dialect.
Kumari was unable to recall her home address or family. This posed a challenge for officials to repatriate her. Over time, she came to remember more details of her life.
Shanta Kumari’s plight was published in Arab News, which prompted the Indian Embassy in Riyadh to trace her family in India. Safiya Ajit, a social worker in Dammam, visited her several times in the hospital and also attempted to trace the family and sponsor. It finally became clear that Shanta Kumari was working in Kuwait and was brought to Saudi Arabia by a relative of her sponsor on a visit visa, which had expired.
Ajit said, “After tracing her sponsor with the help of the Dammam Police, he was found to be reluctant to pay the overstaying fee. Following negotiation, the sponsor agreed to pay the penalty and arranged an exit visa only two days ago. He also paid three months’ salary amounting to SR 2,100.”
When Kumari was discharged from the hospital on Monday, she was afraid to step outside and begged Ajit not to not beat or harm her. “I assured her that I am also an Indian and would help her reach India.”
Kumari left the Kingdom on Wednesday morning to New Delhi from where she will fly to Hyderabad.