A 15-year-old Deaf girl lived in Uttar Pradesh's Shivrajpur at Malviyanagar.
Her name is Moni.
On 19 July 2018 she went missing.
Her parents were worried sick
and filed a missing persons complaint at the local police station.
However, the police were not able to find Moni.
Her parents were devastated.
On 24th July 2018, the girl was found by local police in Dalmau which is in Rae Bareli.
Since Moni was Deaf, she wasn't able to communicate with the police
and couldn’t give them any details about where she lived.
The police handed Moni to the Child Welfare Committee.
She was then entrusted in the care of
Mansik Mandit Mamata Ashray Grah,
Manosamarpan and Manosamajik Sewa Samiti. They took Moni under their wing and cared for her.
The associations then gave her medical aid,
taught her Sign Language and also taught her to read and write.
Recently, she told her counsellor Bharti Kashyap
and psychologist Shailesh Kumar Sharma
through writing that she hails from Malviyanagar in Shivrajpur.
Shailesh Kumar Sharma said, “Moni wrote details about her parents as well as their address.
We immediately traced her parents and informed her father about Moni”
He was shocked and rushed to meet her.
Her father was very thankful to the associations.
He was able to find her all because she was taught Sign language and writting.
Her father was overjoyed to find Moni after 3 years.
Moni's father's name is Ishwar Dayal. He said she went missing on 19 July 2018.
They have been worried sick since then.
On 6th March 2021, he received a call from Mansik Mandit Mamata Ashray Grah
informing him about his daughter.
After 3 years, he was very happy to reunite with his daughter.
Dayal said, "I am thankful to all 3 associations who taught Moni, to read, write and Sign.
I was able to find Moni after three years because of the power of Sign Language and writing.
My family is complete again.
Moni’s brother Ram Kumar said,
“I had lost all hope of meeting my sister.
By the grace of God she is back with us.”
The story of Moni reuniting with her family is extremely heart warming.
This was possible because of the power of Sign Language
and learning to read & write. This helped her communicate and reunite with her family.
These are extremely powerful.
For the 18 million Deaf individuals in India,
Indian Sign Language is extremely important.
When reading & writing is taught through the medium of Indian Sign Language,
Deaf children are able to grasp the content quickly.
When children are fluent in Sign Language and are taught through it, their literacy skills improve.
This helps them fulfill their aspirations of becoming doctors, lawyers, etc.
Hence, teaching spoken language through Sign Language is extremely important
for a Deaf individual's success and the development of the nation.