Mangalore: Savita, a motherless child at 18 months, later was a housemaid in Hejmady, and suffered for 12 long years in poverty, ill-treatment and misguided by an estate-owner(Karunakar) that her father was dead when the latter had actually re-married and fathered 3 children, was  finally re-united with her father Sagaya, on Sunday, after 16 long years of slavery.

She had studied upto 3rd standard and wanted to pursue further studies, but was working at “Waterfall estate” in Chikkamagalur with her father.

The employer (Karunakar) tortured and tormented her as a girl of 7 years. Savita was denied a playful childhood, her salary was not paid for work done, and she had to painfully endure several years of hard work.

There was no way she could escape from the shackles put around her, to patiently wait or a deliverance (Vimochana) day.

As she thought she had no father, as her boss Karunakar had lied to her, there was no alternate place to go to, even if she escaped from the estate service. She was sent to Hejmady as housemaid to Sridhar.

A friend of her from Tarikere settled in Mangalore told that an acquaintance Praveen Kumar of Falnir, wanted a maid servant. Savita Came down from Hejmady house of Sridhar, where she was sent from ‘Waterfall estate’ in her poverty to be a domestic maid of Sridhar, to Mangalore.

Sridhar followed her to Mangalore, and lodged a complaint with local police that Praveen had kidnapped her in a car.

When city police questioned Praveen and  Savita, the latter told her story, and the police let them go and shut the case file.

After 3½ years, Savita moved to Prajna Counselling Centre, and Praveen helped her, through police, to move to Kankanady where she stayed for over an year.

Her re-Union recently was made possible by a bus conductor named William. Savita had spent 16 years to grow into a young women, by then.

It was William, who remembered that a young girl of around 8, had gone to Mangalore from Tarikere 16 years ago, in his bus. Having cleared his doubts about her, William got in touch with Sagaya, his neighnour who was Savita’s father in Tarikere.

Sagaya with a relative quickly came down to Mangalore, and recognised Savita at Prajna Centre. He promised to maintain her.

After the formalities, she was allowed to go to Tarikere with her father. She was emotional about the moment, when she met her father, and she could think of her future(marriage etc) only later on.

Yes, as in Peet Rabindranath Tagore’s short story, on a Pathan Kabuliwalla, Savitha spent 16 years in hope and patience to meet her father, while growing from a young girl into a women waiting for her marriage, reunited with her parent at last.