Author: Baya Agarwal
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: April 1, 2006
Introduction: Girl took jewellery, clothes
with her. Family claims kidnapper is Pak national
When his daughter Shama (16) didn't return
from her stitching class at the usual time on Saturday night, Khushyal Khan
(37), an accountant with Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited, realised something
was amiss.
Khushyal immediately left his Antop Hill residence
in search of his only daughter, a Std VIII dropout. Suspecting the hand of
Mansoob Ali (20), an uneducated youngster who lived nearby and had allegedly
harassed Shama earlier, Khushyal went to his house to learn that Ali too had
gone missing.
This led the Khans to register a kidnapping
case against Ali at the Antop Hill police station on Saturday night. "We
have registered a case against Ali for kidnapping a minor. As of now, we have
no news of their whereabouts," said Senior Police Inspector Vishnu Devkar.
The police have now alerted other police stations in the area and despatched
photographs of the duo.
The Khans have alleged that Ali's family-mother
Mumtaz and sister Zara-is aware of his whereabouts and that they are Pakistani
nationals illegally staying in India. But the Khans have denied this.
"Ali is a Pakistani. His mother brought
him to India when he was three," said Naseema Khatun (38), Shama's mother.
"He must have provoked my daughter to take this step. She has taken away
jewellery worth Rs 50,000 and three sets of clothes."
Ali's mother Mumtaz (42) denied the allegations.
"I am not a Pakistani. I'm an Indian and got married in Kuwait. After
my husband's death, I came to Mumbai with my two children," she said.
baya.agarwal@expressindia.com
