Benji is busy preparing dishes at his adoptive family’s eatery in Kolkata

Kolkata: Born into destitution in Kerala, raised without the memory of his parents and searching for a home after decades of wandering, 50-year-old Benjamin – “Benji” in Kolkata’s Beleghata – says the state has made him an orphan again. The Election Commission’s SIR of the voter list has struck off his name, breaking the link to his only formal identity as a voter. Intended to clean up the rolls, this practice has left cases stranded between identification and evidence, where the resident family does not meet the documentary thresholds. Orphaned since childhood, Benji lost his mother at birth and his father soon after. After spending time in an orphanage in Kerala, he ran away, joined a circus troupe, and at the age of 21 was brought to Kolkata as a shop assistant. Months later, he was taken in by Jayant Baral, a fast-food stall owner. Since 1999, Benji has been living with the Baral family, calling octogenarian Padmarani Baral his mother. This arrangement provided them with stability – and ultimately, citizenship on paper. After years of persuasion, he applied for a voter ID card and voted ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. He also has a ration card. That fragile identity collapsed during SIR. In his enumeration form Benji again named Padmarani as the guardian. This time this relationship was not acceptable to the authorities. Because there was no record of the biological parents – names he could not remember – his case was stalled and his name was removed. “For the first time in my lonely life, I felt important during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections,” he said. “After that, losing rights hurts more.” Regulars around the stall where he has worked for decades say paperwork has trumped attendance. Benji is now trying to prove that he exists through papers, affidavits and appeals, trying to find a way back into the role.