ONE day in the summer of 1993, Bashir Ahmed Bhat left home for work as usual. But the day turned out to be quite different from others because he did not return.

His mother, Raja Begum, says Bashir, then 15, left for Dalgate, where he worked as a labourer, around 9 in the morning. "That day when he went missing, I was restless since morning. But I never thought such a big misfortune will befall us," she says. "I still remember, we were anxiously waiting for his return that evening. We looked at every possible place...," she says.

As the family started to search for Bashir, Raja Begum says someone told them that the Army had picked up some boys from Dalgate. Raja Begum says her husband and some relatives rushed to the spot where shopkeepers confirmed that the Army had picked up some boys.

The family belongs to Tankipora in Srinagar.

"We immediately went to the nearest security picket to enquire about Bashir. Instead, we were thrashed by the personnel. I went to the Nehru Park Police Station but they did not even allow me to enter the premises," she says.

"No body entertains the poor. The Army beat us up as if we were committing a crime looking for our son," she says. She says after this despite several visits to the DC office, no action was taken. "DC sahib told the Army to release my son if he was not involved. The Army said he would be. It's been almost 14 years now. Many commissioners have come and gone but my son is still untraceable," she says.

... contd.