Indian finds missing father in SL after 21 years from YouTube video

After an Indian woman, in her habeas corpus petition filed before the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Tuesday, claimed that her long-missing father was identified among vagabonds in Sri Lanka through a YouTube video, the court-ordered notice to the Centre and State.

A Division Bench of Justices M. Sathyanarayanan and B. Pugalendhi ordered notice to the respondents and adjourned the case till 14 August.

The petitioner, Saravanasundari Ramesh of Rameswaram, said her father S. Barathan went missing in 1996 after the boat in which he set sail went missing. The family was informed that the boat had sunk and her father was dead. She said the family later learned that the owner of the vessel had made a representation to the State Government stating that four members of his crew were held captive in Sri Lanka. In 1998, a communication was received by the owner of the boat that necessary steps were being taken to bring them back.

However, after a lapse of 21 years, in March, one of the family members, while viewing a video on YouTube about an Indian vagabond living in Colombo, identified him to be Barathan.

Claiming the man to be her father, the petitioner sought a direction to the Centre and State to take appropriate steps to bring him back. (The Hindu)