For 14 years, Agripada-resident Yasmin Cooper has been living with the ghosts of her past in the flat where her elderly parents were murdered in 1994. Cooper’s parents were murdered by burglars and the case was closed after a year. Since then, 56-year-old Cooper has been fighting a battle against the police machinery in a bid to get the case reopened. Now, Cooper is all set to fight for justice after a reply to her Right to Information (RTI) query stated that the case file of her parents’ murder had been declared as lost.

In 1994, Cooper’s parents Dr Marzban (88) and Pheroza (78) Haveliwala were found murdered by suspected robbers in their three-bedroom flat at Kaiser-e-Ayesha building on Motlibai Street in Agripada. Their house was ransacked and valuables worth over Rs 7 lakh, including the family's heirloom jewellery, were stolen.

“The incident on September 26, 1994, changed my life. After being notified by our servant, I found my father’s body. He was still seated in his easy chair, gagged, and with limbs tied. My mother’s body was found on the bedroom floor, also tied and gagged. There was a weeping expression on her swollen face. My children’s T-shirts had been used to gag them. Cash and valubales including jewellery and wristwatches had been stolen and the empty jewellery boxes were heaped on the bed,” recalls Cooper.

The Agripada police had registered a case of murder and later transferred it to the crime branch. In April 1995, the case was closed by the crime branch sleuths who classified it as ‘A summary — true but undetected’.

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