'Dead' woman returns home after seven years 

Agartala, Sep 19 : Autiling Jamatia alias Chitralekha has seen a rebirth of sorts as she returned home from neighbouring Bangladesh after being reported missing for seven years and her family performing the last rites. 

The immigration officials received her at Akhaura check post (Agartala) yesterday from Bangladesh National Women Lawyers Association (BNWLA) representative Aleya Choudhury after two-year-long formalities of deportation. 

According to report, Chitralekha, mother of two kids and resident of Hadrai village of West Tripura, had gone missing from Agartala sometime in 2002. The case was reported to police and also publicised in the local dailies but she could not be traced. 

Finally, her husband Ajit Debbarma performed her last rites and married for second time within a year after the incident. In the meantime, Chitralekha's uncle Khagendra Jamatia, an employee of Dhaka-Agartala bus service, came across the information that a tribal woman from India had been given shelter in the BNWLA home at Dhaka.

''I visited the home in 2006 and it was not too difficult for me as I have to travel to Dhaka from Agartala almost everyday. I identified Chitralekha in the home and then I started the process to take her back but it took three years,'' Mr Jamatia told media, adding the External Affairs Ministry and Indian Embassy in Dhaka were involved in the case, besides Tripura Womens' Commission and several other NGOs. 

After long persuasion, the BNWLA was asked by Bangladesh government to send Chitralekha to Tripura and accordingly, she returned yesterday, Mr Jamatia added.