—Pallavi Singh

We searched every house in the village

Madhu Gautam, the 20-year-old daughter of Karamveer and Santra of Nithari went looking for work on November 12, 2006, and never came back. An FIR was registered in the police chowki in Sector 26, Noida.

When after three visits to the police chowki their daughter was still not found, Karamveer and Santra went to the police thana in Sector 20. “We searched every house in the village for her,’’ says Santra. Her search now, she says, is over. Karamveer and she identified Madhu’s clothes and chappals in the debris dug from the drain before House No 5.

Each day spent looking for my son means a day’s wages lost

Physically challenged Niyaz Ahmed, 20, went missing from Noida’s Sector 10 on November 20, 2004. Says his father Nisar Khan, ‘‘I work in a Noida factory. Each day I spend looking for my son, is one day less of wages. The police never helped me. They laughed and said, come to us when you have a clue. Would a killer spare a physically challenged boy who could not use one hand and one leg? I wonder if there is justice in this world.’’ ‘‘The police has never helped me in my search.’’

He never got his nephew photographed. Now he’s missing

Mohammed Hasib is a broken man. His nephew Jumaan Ali Sheikh, 12, was last seen on the afternoon of April 24, 2006. ‘‘I just went for lunch leaving him to look after the shop. I was not gone for more than 10 minutes but when I returned, he was gone,’’ says the tailor who lives in Noida. Hasib registered an FIR at the neighbouring police chowki. ‘‘All that the police told me was that the boy had probably run away and would be back in a few days.’’

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