SHILLONG: His mother left him soon after he was delivered leaving the newborn to her employer.
Aldrin Lyngdoh (26), who committed suicide in Agra on Monday, was brought up by the employer Queentina Lyngdoh till he left her in 2008.
“Aldrin’s mother’s name was Shanti. She came to us in 1994 looking for work and we employed her at our eatery. Later, we came to know she was already pregnant. To our surprise, she disappeared around 10 days after delivering the baby”, Queentina recounted on Wednesday.
Shanti was employed for less than a year and Queentina and the family tried to locate her but she could not be traced.
Queentina looked after the newborn as her own and provided all she could do to bring up the child.
Though after the death of her husband, SV Tangkhul, she had the burden of looking after her own children — four daughters and two sons — Aldrin was like the youngest member in the family.
“We christened him Aldrin Lyngdoh giving him my name and looked after him like our own, but one day in 2008, he suddenly charged me that I was not his mother and soon left home… it was an agonising moment”, Queentina said.
Aldrin had studied up to class VIII. It was a painful moment for Queentina and the family as he decided to leave despite their intention to give him the best in life.
The foster mother said there was no reason for him to leave as the family provided him everything and did not show any discrimination.
“His bad company must have been the reason for his sudden change of behaviour’, she said.
After Aldrin left home, Queentina and family thought that the boy must be somewhere in Shillong. She hoped that one day he would be back like a prodigal son.
“He was a nice boy from his childhood and I know him better than anyone else”, she said.
It was shocking for Queentina when police broke the news to her that Aldrin had committed suicide.
“I felt very bad and wept. I could not believe it as I had always thought that one day he will return”, Queentina said. “He could have come back to us if he was in trouble and we would have taken him back,” she said.
Now, the family wants a decent burial for Aldrin in New Delhi as planned by Meghalaya House there since it will be difficult to bring his body home during the lockdown.
“We are grateful to those who are arranging his funeral, the family said.
