Mumbai: Family awaits the return of their son who went missing 10 month ago

Mulund family hopes for the best Children's Day gift - the return of their 16-year-old son, missing for an agonising 10 months now

Rajendraprasad Tiwari, father of Aniket, 16, who has been missing from his Mulund home since February 15, did his routine, weary round of the Mulund police station yesterday.

Aniket Tiwari flanked by his parents Rajendra and Babita

The family of eight, which includes Aniket's parents and five sisters, is on the brink. There has been no trace of the teenager for the past 10 months. Rajendra, who worked as an electrical engineer in Abu Dhabi, has been at home in Mumbai since the youngster went missing. "Aniket has been gone for 10 agonising months now. Nobody, including the police, has any clue in the case; an FIR was filed way back on February 18. Yesterday, the police told me that investigations are on and they are searching," he said.

Is he kidnapped?
While the police search is on, the Tiwaris, residing in Ish Chhaya Society, have exhausted all options. The distraught father said, "My son, a student of Holy Angel school, was last seen playing with friends on a ground close to the house. The others returned home after playing, but Aniket never came back. We looked for him till late evening and at night."

Rajendra added that the family believed he had been kidnapped. "I do not believe that he walked away from the family of his own volition. He had no mobile phone with him, and only R10 in his pocket that day. Why would he leave his family? He could not stay away from his mother even for a day. And if he had gone away on his own, it's impossible that he wouldn't return, or at least contact his mother. My hunch is that he has been kidnapped and is being held against his will by a gang for reasons unknown."

Disturbed and distressed
Rajendra said, "I had scolded him a few days before he went missing, for not going to his tuition classes. But he hadn't been disturbed by that. His friends told me he had been his usual cheerful self."

His mother Babita and sisters Varsha, Vaishnavi, Sheetal, Rakhi and Tejaswini too said they saw no reason for Aniket to leave them. They have been deeply disturbed since his disappearance. "Sheetal had to be taken to hospital, after she fasted for nine days, without even drinking water, praying for her brother's return," said the father.

Cameras show zilch
Rajendra said Mulund locals had done all they could to help. "We have posters all over Mulund. Because Aniket was passionate about football, we even sent letters to some local football clubs for any clue of his whereabouts."

In May, a social worker, Sushma Maurya, had written a letter to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, requesting his intervention in the case. Her letter stated that the family was "depressed, suffering, under severe distress, has anxiety and has lost hope from the police station."

Tears on hold
"Even though Mulund is covered byCCTVs, we haven't been able to glean anything from the footage. My daughters and my wife have the luxury of venting their emotions by crying. I have to be strong for them, I can't break down. I have been eating one meal a day, to survive. We have been visiting 'babas' and 'godmen' as a last recourse. I am bottling up my tears. I hope that these tears become of joy soon, at the return of my child," signed off the father, choked but stoic.

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