Sanjay Motilal Parmar with his wife Komal. Photos and Videos by KT: Muhammad Sajjad
Release date: Saturday, September 21, 2024 at 6:00 AM
An Indian woman’s long and arduous journey to find her missing husband came to a happy end on Friday when he was found within 10 hours, as reported by Khaleej Times.
The story, which was published on Thursday (September 19), caught the attention of Ali Hasnain, a Pakistani engineer from Abu Dhabi. Later that evening, Ali contacted Khaleej Times, revealing that Sanjay Motilal Parmar, 53, lived on Khalifa Road with him and his brother Mohammed Naseem.
After a quick check, Khaleej Times informed Sanjay’s family about the development. His son Aayush and his wife Komal were overcome with emotion. “For over three years, we have been living in constant grief and anxiety. Now, finally, the end is near,” Komal said.
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The next morning (September 20), a Khaleej Times reporter drove Aayush and Komal from Dubai to Abu Dhabi for the long-awaited reunion. The moment they arrived at Sanjay’s apartment was filled with emotion.
“I missed you two every day.”
When Sanjay saw his wife and son, he ran towards them with tears in his eyes and hugged them tightly, as if trying to make up for lost time with one embrace.
Sanjay’s voice trembled as he confessed his sin. “I missed you guys every day,” he said, “but I didn’t have the courage to call you. I didn’t know how to explain the first few days when I couldn’t get in touch with you. Then days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months, and before I knew it, months turned into years. I was embarrassed… I didn’t know how to tell you that I was failing.”
Sanjay said financial difficulties and feelings of immense guilt meant he was unable to contact his family. “I was deceived by an Indian recruitment agency. I ended up homeless with no money. My visa had expired and I had no way of paying the fine,” he said.
Ali Hasnain and Mohammed Nadeem saw his plight and offered him shelter. Sanjay has been living with them ever since, helping Nadeem with his delivery bike business and running odd errands for him. “We hit it off straight away. Sanjay is like a brother to us,” Nadeem said.
During Ramadan, Sanjay participated in suhoor and iftar with his Pakistani hosts. Despite being a vegetarian, the brothers provided a separate kitchen for Sanjay to feel at home. “Even though we don’t follow the same faith, they treated me like family,” Sanjay added. “Waking up for suhoor and breaking my fast with them during Ramadan made me feel like I was part of their home.”
Komal was amazed at the bond that transcended faith and nationality: “I’m amazed at the camaraderie here. It’s great to see the people of the UAE come together in times of need, regardless of where they come from,” she said.
Vegetarian farewell lunch
The timing of the reunion was also not lost on her. “It was so fitting that I met my husband on a Friday, right before Friday prayers,” Komal says. After the service, Nadeem and Ali hosted a vegetarian farewell lunch for Sanjay at nearby Bhavna restaurant, marking the end of their bittersweet stay. “We feel like we’ve lost a brother, not a roommate,” Nadeem said as he embraced Sanjay one last time.
Expressing his emotion at the reunion, Aayush said: “Our family is united again. I can’t thank Khaleej Times enough for helping us find him. What it took us three years to do, they managed in less than 10 hours.”
Since 2021, the family has written multiple letters to the Indian Embassy and reached out to local leaders in Gujarat.
Time to rebuild the family
Sanjay now plans to apply for the UAE’s amnesty programme to rebuild his life with his family. The programme, which runs from September 1 to October 30, 2024, gives undocumented immigrants the opportunity to regularise their status or leave the country without penalty.
Komal flew to Dubai with her son Aayush from her hometown of Vadodara in Gujarat on September 8 to search for her missing husband. Desperate for answers, the couple visited the Khaleej Times offices on Wednesday to share their story and spread awareness about their husband’s disappearance.
Their pleas were heard, and within a few hours they received the news they had been waiting for for years.
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