RIYADH, 18 February 2004 — Two speechless amnesiacs are waiting for any relatives or acquaintances to come forward.
Both were admitted to Riyadh Medical Complex (RMC) at Shumaisy. One of them seems to be of Indian origin while the other looks like a Sudanese.
According to V.V. Narayanan, first secretary for labor welfare at the Indian Embassy, the apparent Indian was admitted to RMC as long ago as June 27, 2000. When the police hospitalized him in an unconscious state, he had no documents on him. After prolonged treatment at RMC, he regained consciousness and his physical strength. However, he suffers permanent amnesia.
Narayanan said that when the Ministry of Foreign Affairs referred the case to the Indian Embassy, the latter contacted India’s Foreign Office in New Delhi and placed advertisements in Indian newspapers along with his photograph. It also contacted other embassies in the Diplomatic Quarter in Riyadh.
“We have still not been able to track down any of his relatives or friends,” Narayanan said, adding that the problem is compounded by the fact that both men have lost their power of speech.
In the second case, a middle-aged man, apparently of African origin, was admitted to RMC six months ago after he was found unconscious in a street in the capital. Subsequently, the Indian Embassy, among other diplomatic missions, received a letter from the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs asking it to handle the case.
Narayanan said that when the man was admitted to RMC’s police cell, he had already lost his memory. Later, the embassy officials visited him at the police cell hoping to get a clue as to his ethnicity or nationality. But they drew a blank, as the man was unable to speak or recall anything. Later, they had him transferred to the Riyadh Social Welfare Center, where he is recovering physically, though not mentally.
