A series of reports by mid-day has ensured that the land-grabbers are cooling their heels behind bars. 'I miss my mom', said Marietta, struggling to control her emotions
Marietta Fernandes (right) in the bungalow that has four bedrooms and a wooden roof. Pic/Pradeep Dhivar
Marietta Fernandes hummed her mother’s favourite song “A Kiss for Every Candle” on her birthday on February 15. Just days ago, she had stepped into her ancestral bungalow in Khar, nearly 16 months after it was taken over by land sharks. A series of reports by mid-day has ensured that the land-grabbers are cooling their heels behind bars. “I miss my mom”, said Marietta, struggling to control her emotions.
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Marietta, 54, was admitted to the Thane Mental Hospital after the recovery of the badly decomposed body of her mother Yvonne Fernandes, 83. During her stay at the hospital, an acquaintance, Clarence Pereira, alias Peter, plotted to usurp the multi-crore property at Chuim Village. “It is the first time I have stepped in to live here after my mother’s death… I still feel that my mother is waiting there for me to have a meal together. I miss her,” she said. “...Our belongings were wiped out by the land mafia… Clarence and his son were seen using my expensive clothes that I bought from Dubai, London and Portugal… they did not even spare my slippers. How shameful!” she said.
Marietta’s ancestral bungalow at Chuim Village. Pic/Pradeep Dhivar
Marietta said she and her siblings were born and brought up in the same house. “Every brick of this house is attached to my heart. My parents and grandparents had decked up the bungalow with expensive interior, but all those valuables have been robbed of by Clarence Pereira, Nilima Deshmukh and their accomplices,” she said.
In the past 16 months, Marietta said, the accused took away a lot of her belongings. The bungalow has four bedrooms, one dining hall, a big hall, a passage, a gallery and a kitchen. She hops from one room to another all alone in the wooden-roof bungalow. She prepares her breakfast and eats bread, butter and cheese with tea and has soup for lunch and dinner. “Most of the time I am busy in prayers, as it gives me the inner strength to fight against the bad elements,” said Marietta.
Keen to be with sister abroad
Though she has lots of fond memories attached to the bungalow, she wants to settle abroad with her sister. “Living alone in a big house sucks. I want to go abroad and stay with my sister and her family. I miss my siblings a lot. Clarence has taken my vital documents including my passport, PAN and Aadhaar cards. He has also stolen the vital documents of my mother. I want them back ASAP, else land grabbers will misuse them,” said Marietta. They also stole her mother’s gold jewellery studded with expensive gems, microwave oven, refrigerator, electronic items including cassette/CD players, and antique furniture. “Clarence and his children have taken old albums of weddings of my parents and siblings, I want them back.” Khar police are evaluating the value of the stolen property.
Marietta said she is filled with anger, but she prays to stay calm, “else it will be detrimental to my health.” “Clarence’s daughter Rachael had threatened to sell my house and
put me on the road but God was there and saved me as well as my property. Thank you mid-day for the sheer help, as the files started to move faster only after a series of reports published in your newspaper,” she added. Marietta said she went through hell in the past 16 months and the experience has left lifetime scars in her mind. “Now, I don’t allow anyone to enter my house. I have been suggested by legal advisors not to step out of the house for safety reasons.”
‘Brighter side of dark phase’
As she suffered immensely, Marietta said, there was something positive in her life. “These 16 months brought me closer to my siblings who I have not seen in the past decade, I guess. My brother-in-law, Cornel, has been paying electricity as well as water bills and helping me financially.” “I am desperately waiting for my siblings and their families to come here. I want to hug them tightly and cry and cry and cry….I miss them,” she said. Her brother-in-law has also got her a mobile phone.
The happiest day after she entered the property was February 15, her mother Yvonne’s birthday. “I was extremely happy that day. The whole day I felt that my mom was around me,” said Marietta.
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