Ajay was kidnapped from his foster mothers arms

Ajay came into this world in December 2018, as the fifth child in a family. He was loved from the first second he opened his eyes and observed the world. He was loved by his family, and they tried the best they had learned. He was loved by his siblings and loved by both the Danish and the Indian coworkers and volunteers, working for Gadens Børn. 

Ajay's family has been part of Gadens Børn from the very beginning. Pia met them during her first visit in Kolkata back in 2012, and ever since, she has only known them to be loving and caring – but also unstable and dysfunctional. The mother has a rather big and devastating alcohol abuse and drank all the way during her pregnancy with Ajay. The father is a criminal and has been absent most of Ajay's life. 

On the 28th of July 2019, Ajay became one of more than 80.000 children that disappears every year in India. He was kidnapped from his home, Sealdah Station at 4 AM, while fast asleep with his deaf foster mother. At that time, he was only 7 months old. 

Like most Indian street children, Ajay had no birth certificate. Furthermore, being a street child, he is regarded as some of the lowest in society. It was impossible to engage the police in opening a missing person report on him, as he did not exist in their system. That meant we had to search for him ourselves, which can seem rather hopeless in a city with 14 million inhabitants. But our experience says though, that it is possible. 

We printed out 4000 "MISSING" posters and hung up around the city, on streets and train stations, and nearly three months after, our efforts paid off. At this stage, our hope for this story to end happily, was running out. All traces had turned cold and everything pointed in the direction, that Ajay had been sold for adoption, which typically is the case when very small babies disappear. At least it was most tolerable version of the story, as a rather significant part of dealing with Indian children, often involves the sex industry.

The 17th of October 2019 a woman recognized Ajay in the arms of a young homeless and burn-scarred girl in front of Howrah Government Hospital – only 20 km from Sealdah Station. The woman reported what she had seen to the police, and as they arrested her, she confessed immediately. 

We never imagined that the story would unfold the way it did. A poor girl, living in the street, had taken Ajay, to escape her horrible, lonely and loveless life. She had burn-wounds and scars on all the upper part of her body, which itself is a witness of a story that not just scars your body, but to a great extent also scars your soul. 

The police asked if we wanted to prosecute the girl, but being lonely, unwanted and abandoned in the street, with no hope or dreams, is enough punishment itself. During the three months Ajay had lived with the girl, he had been embraced with love and care. It was obvious when they parted, that she got her punishment, the worst one imaginable. Namely, the loss of someone you love, as it was so obvious that she loved and cared about Ajay.

Today Ajay lives with his three older siblings at the Boarding School, Missionaries of the World, which Gadens Børn is paying for. One of these children is Fighter, that Pia found hovering between life and death on Sealdah Station, back in 2014. The fourth child disappeared, like Ajay, six years ago and was never found. The Boarding School is around one-hour drive from Kolkata City Center and is situated in a beautiful and fertile area, where Ajay is thriving. He has changed from sleeping all day, due to exhaustion and malnutrition – to now being attentive and curious on life - and we are convinced that he will manage and get a good life. Gadens Børn visits him, and our nine other children at the Boarding School, once or twice a month. 

Ajay's disappearance is not just a story like many others, being victims of the harsh circumstances and realities in India, it is also a story that convinces us, that we will achieve our goal, through efforts for the children - if only we only fight hard and long enough. Even, when everything seems desperate and all hope is gone, a way emerges, and in that way, Ajay becomes such a huge inspiration to us all in our work.