Mariam was just 10 years old when she left her home in Delhi during the post-Demolition riots in 1992 and ran away to Calcutta to escape her father's beatings. Eight years later, she is trying to trace her family. Mariam's story was first reported by The Indian Express.

``I don't know why they are insisting that they are my parents. I know I'm not their daughter and this is not my home either. My home is somewhere else. To go to my house, you have to go past India Gate. That is where my maa and baba live,'' insists Mariam, who is now staying with Shabbo, a social worker in the area.

The couple -- Amina and Mutlib -- tried their best to make herremember. Old pictures, birthmarks... nothing seemed to work. ``She is our daughter. I've been telling her that since yesterday, but she's not listening,'' says Amina. ``She asked us if we knew about some identification marks. I pointed out three -- behind her ear, on her stomach and one her arm -- and she has them all,'' she adds.

Mariam is not listening. ``Can't any other girl have the same marks on her body as I do? And even look a bit like me? They've been showing me some old pictures and insist that I am the girl who is sitting there, but that is not true. It may be a long time since I met my parents, but they (the couple) are definitely not my parents,'' she says.

The couple too lost their daughter during the riots. Says Amina,``I don't remember the date. But it was during the riots that I lost her and even my younger son. However, we recovered our son, but our daughter could never be found. We hunted so much for her. And now when she's here, she refuses to accept us.''

However, for thesatisfaction of the couple, Mariam says that she is ready to go for DNA tests. ``I told them if the samples match, I'll go to live with them,'' she says. A condition which the couple seems to have eagerly accepted. ``If that's what she wants, then let that be,'' says Amina.

Meanwhile, Mariam has chosen to live with Shabbo, till she finds her `real' parents. Says Shabbo, ``I have been staying here for a long time and I don't recall seeing her at all. And neither do many people in the basti.''

However, Shabbo adds that some residents have admitted to knowing a family by her description. But apparently the man died and the woman left for Pakistan. ``Mariam belongs to a Bangladeshi family that was illegally settled in India. Following the riots, there were raids on the Bangladeshis and many of them moved out. It is possible that her family was among those,'' she says.

Mariam, however, has something else to say.``My family is near India Gate. Then, there's a big bridge. It is only when we cross thatwe reach my house. And it's not fair on their part to say that my baba is dead,'' she says.

Mariam is happy to be back in Delhi and she's sure that she will be able to trace her `real' family.

Lilua (the home in Calcutta), was a bad experience for her. ``The only saving grace was Sanlaap and the two didis who restored me. I would never want to back to that hell.'' Sanlaap is an NGO that acts as a watchdog for the Government-run rehabilitation centre.

And though she has the option of going back to the home, she would rather stay here. ``How can a girl from Delhi live all her life in Calcutta? I'll stay with Shabbo didi.'' Shabbo too seems to be happy to offer her home. Says she: ``We're trying our best to locate her parents. However, I've told her and the NGO that if Mariam so wishes, she could live here in my house like my daughter.''