I can’t get the image of her out of my head!!
Franshela Vaz a third
standard child- barely an eight year old girl - went missing on Monday 29th
June 2015 evening from her society premises just after her school bus dropped
her in the evening. Her mother Sarli Vaz had been through a surgery. So those
days she wasn’t able to collect her daughter from the bus stop. However as
there were other four students from the same society who also study in the same
school and travel by the same bus, so it was never difficult for the little
Franshela to come home once she was dropped at the society gate.
But that ill-fated day,
when she didn’t come around 6.30 pm, she called up the Bus driver and discovers
that she was already dropped. She
smelled something foul and immediately started a frantic search around the
society followed by a FIR after few hours. As she was from the same school
where my son also studies, so all my WhatsAap group was flooded with messages
“fake and real” about every update about the incident.
It was really a horrible
time going through messages with pounding heart beats expecting a good news
that “she got back to her mother’s lap”.
But did it ever happen….
The police, the school
administration, the family members, the crime branch and some other parents did
a wild search for her taking every minute detail into account. Prayers and
wishes were all through this search like that of crazy rain that flooded Mumbai
few days back... Honestly I even checked up my whatsaap message at every single
beep of message alert at any point of time even in the mid of the night …expecting
something good.
But all our prayers fall
short…I guess or the heavy rains cruelly washed them away... The Good God was not so kind that day perhaps...
On Friday, 3rd July, 2015 (aftyer 5 days of
her gone missing) her semi decomposed body was discovered followed by the
arrest of her maternal Uncle Clerence Fonseca who had actually kidnapped and killed
her.
Suddenly the heart felt a
serious hollow. Shaken to the core… it was so hard to digest the reality. It
was purely a revenge killing. As per the report, Franshela Vaz was very fond of
Uncle Clarence Fonseca, who is the husband of her mother’s sister. She would
often visit his Mira Road residence and spend time with his children. Sarli Vaz
and Sophia Fonseca are sisters. The Few months back while The Vazs were at
Fonseca’s place for a family get-together; there was a fight among children
over toys. Soon parents got involved in
it. Sarli(Mother of Franshela) had a serious argument and exchange of heated
words with Clerence that had “sowed the seed of revenge” in him.
That wretched day, when
Frenshela was supposed to enter her wing, Uncle Clerence called her up and said
her mother was at their place (Mira Road) and he was there to pick her up.
Little Frenshela was no
way aware that the death angel had already entered into his Uncle’s body
waiting to make her body lifeless. She happily boarded the silver i20 car with brute
Uncle at the wheel. After driving for an hour, he chose a lonely place on Gorbandor
road (Thane) only to throttle her using polythene bag and then throw her inert
body near a nullah. After that while the search operation was going on, he was
all there to sympathize her mother.
Anyway, he could not dodge the relentless
search operation of Police. Finally he was caught by a CCTV capture in the
Airoli Bridge (Little Franshela was sitting in the front seat with Uncle Fonseca
at the wheel) and the cell phone location that proved that he was around the
society at that time when little Franshela went missing…neurotic day.
I know, it is not a first
incident of its kind. But we human have an amazing feeling system. Till our own
relatives or surrounding is not subjected to a heartless incident, we don’t’
feel the seriousness of the reality and pain. I was almost broken. Not
me only…in fact it had sent a shock wave in the Navi Mumbai itself.
This incident again
raised the question how safe our children are. According to a report, the most
dangerous crime faced by children is from their known and own people only. Most
of the time, it is the people who are known to the children win their
confidence easily making them vulnerable to be subjected to heinous crimes. As
a mother, I really wander how to save my child from such known perpetrators and
invisible beasts. Amidst the funeral meet and candle March as a disturbed
mother I’m really vexed and bothered how to teach my son that other than his
mom and dad, none can be trusted in this world!!!
 |
| Franshela With Her Brute Uncle (CCTV capture image) |
The CCTV captured image
of Franshela (which are also her last picture before Destiny took her) with her
Monster Uncle are something still alive in my head. I just can’t get that
image out of my mind...
Whenever I see a child
with an adult, that particular image becomes active and afresh and makes me suspicion. My
heart starts pounding thinking…if the child is with the safe person or not. Most
of the time they are with their parents, but looking at them I start doubting. Sometime
it makes me feel like asking them…is he/she your parent…who knows another Franshela
is not with another predator…
Because I just can’t get that particular image out of my mind…I guess!!!
Because I just can’t get that particular image out of my mind…I guess!!!
This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda.
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