Pathanamthitta: A man's maiden train journey went horribly wrong as he got separated from his family members in an unknown place outside his state. Adding to misery he didn't carry a phone!

Anil, son of Kunjucherukkan and Podipennu of Mathoor locality, returned home seven days after he went missing from Katpadi in Tamil Nadu.

A bottle of water, a nutmeg, and some tamarind were all that Aranmula native Anil had with him when he began walking from Palakkad to Aranmula, a distance of over 200 km. Exhausted, the 42-year-old slept in bus stands and railway stations as he trudged home.

He reached Palakkad by bus and walked to Aranmula from there.

Anil had gone to Andhra Pradesh, along with his wife Raji, daughter Anju, and sister Usha to admit Usha’s daughter to a nursing course. It was for the first time that Anil was travelling by train.

On the evening of November 3, they began their train journey to Chengannur. Owing to the rush in the general compartment, Anil got separted from his family members while on the train.

When the train reached the Katpadi station, he got out of the train but could not get back in.

It was only after the train reached Ernakulam that the family members realised that Anil was missing.

They could not contact him as he did not have a phone.

Anil, who was in a distressed condition, went to the Katpadi police station and told them that he was a native of Pathanamthitta district of Kerala.

Two policemen pooled in Rs 200 and sent him on a bus to Palakkad.

From Palakkad, Anil walked towards home along the national highway.

'I walked four to five days,' he estimated.

Finally, Jijo, an acquaintance, who saw Anil at Aranmula, informed the Elavumthitta police station.