Kurigram Correspondent:

The courtyard of a modest home at Nefra village in Ulipur upazila of Kurigram, echoed with sobs of joy as a son once thought lost forever returned to his parents’ embrace after 28 long years.

Saiful Islam was only nine years old when he vanished. The fourth of Abdul Latif and Amena Begum’s eight children, he left home in 1997 with a neighbour for Chattogram, hoping to ease his family’s hardship. But he never made it back.

As soon as young Saiful stepped off a train at Bhatiari Railway Station in Sitakunda, the train pulled away, taking with it the people he had travelled with.

Alone, bewildered, and unable to return, he began a new life of survival; working in tea stalls, doing odd jobs, and growing up without the warmth of his family.

For nearly three decades, Saiful’s parents prayed, searched, and wept, never losing hope.

Their wait ended when a villager from Nefra happened to meet Saiful in Chattogram last week. Though he could not remember his upazila or district, he remembered the names of his parents and his village.

That single thread led his elder brother Mahfuzar Rahman to him.

“At the tea stall, we recognised him instantly,” Mahfuzar said, his voice heavy with emotion.

“We brought him home with the shop owner’s permission. Words cannot describe the feeling of getting him back after so many years.”

Abdul Latif, now aged and frail, said his prayers were finally answered.

“I recognised my son the moment I saw him. I prayed countless times, cried endlessly for him. By the mercy of Allah, I could hold him in my arms again.”

Amena Begum, Saiful’s mother, struggled to speak through tears.

“We could barely feed our children back then. On neighbours’ advice, we sent Saiful to work, but he got lost the very first day. For years, we searched everywhere, visited healers, and begged Allah to return him. After 28 years, my son is home. No words can capture this joy.”

Saiful said he felt peace after finally returning to his parents, siblings and relatives.

“I have never felt greater joy or comfort. I used to see my parents in my dreams and cry for them. I never thought I would actually return to them in real life,” he said.

“I worked at different tea stalls and lived there too. I missed my parents and relatives deeply, but I did not know the address. All I remembered were my parents’ names and the name of my village,” he recalled.

“I will never leave home again, never away from my parents,” he added.

As word spread, hundreds of villagers thronged the family’s home, many shedding tears of their own.

“If Saiful’s grandmother were alive, she would have been the happiest today,” said Saher Ali, a neighbour.

Abul Kashem, former member of Gunaigachh Union Parishad, added, “The family was devastated when Saiful disappeared. Though their son has returned, their poverty still remains.”

Nayan Kumar Saha, upazila nirbahi officer (UNO) of Ulipur called the reunion “truly joyful news” and assured the administration’s support for the family.

For Abdul Latif and Amena Begum, however, the return of their lost son has already filled a void that years of grief could not. In a corner of their humble home, joy has finally found its way back, carrying with it the weight of 28 years of waiting.