Dutchman meets biological father in Mumbai (Times of India)

Dutchman meets biological father in Mumbai

Sep 21, 2013, 05.05AM IST TNN[ Stanley Pinto ]

MANGALORE: India-born Dutch national Martijn Boerkamp met his biological father in Mumbai on Wednesday. And the meeting went well.

Against Child Trafficking (ACT) consultant Anjali Pawar who did the ground work for the reunion said: "In fact, Martijn's father said it was a really pleasant surprise, more so because it came with another surprise package, a daughter-in-law.''

"Meeting Martijn may have been surprising for his biological father, but it was gratifying for me since he accepted everything gracefully. Martijn's father said he was just 14 years old when he was in a relationship and was sent to the Middle East immediately by his family to discourage the relationship. When he came back during his vacation, he tried hard to find out about her, but was prevented by his mother. Even now his mother and aunt put up considerable resistance for the meeting between him and Martijn," Anjali said.

Martijn's father said: "It was an age where we were not aware of the consequences."

Anjali said: "We thought that he would just meet Martijn for courtesy sake. But he was really warm. Both said they will be in touch with each other. In fact, so happy Martijn was after the meeting that while returning he saw a Ganesh Chaturthi procession and joined it and danced. His sadness had melted away after meeting his biological father,'' she said.

Martijn's biological father has given saliva swab for the DNA test, which Martijn will take it back with him to The Netherlands on September 28 and get it tested for a match. But Anjali is quite confident and does not have any doubt. "Martijn's face from nose upwards is like his mother (according to the description given by his half-sister). And when Martijn's father smiled, I knew it was him even before he introduced himself to us in the hotel lobby." After the meet, Martijn flew to Mangalore and is now in Mysore.

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