Jesna, a second-year B.Com student from Pathanamthitta in Kerala went missing on March 22 while going to her aunt’s place in Punchavayal. A massive search operation has been launched by the police in the forest areas surrounding Idukki district. But, with speculations flying thick and fast against her family, Jesna’s sister has made an appeal asking people to stop.
In the video appeal via Facebook, Jesna’s sister, Jais John James says that it’s been 77 days since Jesna disappeared and till now, they have got no clue or information. Family, friends and relatives of Jesna have been searching for her but so far no leads have emerged. A lot of information like calls details were taken, a lot of people were questioned but till now we haven’t got anything.
“Besides, there are several allegations against us in society, but we have not taken them seriously. But even politicians, without knowing the truth or reality have been making several false allegations against us. In such a situation, instead of standing with us, the allegations are in the nature of harassment. They should have been supporting us in this difficult time. But their reaction is as if we have done something wrong and they are speaking without any knowledge or sense of the developments in the case,” she says.
Jais was alluding to MLA PC George who recently said that Jesna’s father should be questioned regarding her disappearance.
She says that many improper allegations were made against her father. “Myself and my brother don’t have the slightest lack of belief in our father. It’s only been 10 months since my mother passed away and since then, he has been taking care of us. Jesna disappeared as we were just recovering from the shock of our mother’s death. So, you should understand our situation.”
She added that the media too came and gave prominence to the case. She asked those alleging that the family was ‘not crying enough’, “What is your problem? That we are not crying? You are coming to console us but if you are standing in front of the public and telling something to the public, then you should clearly study the case and only then make statements. You should not be making baseless statements based on information you have got from somewhere. When you make such statements, society will believe you. Just put yourself in our shoes and think of the pressure that we are going through. It’s been 77 days since Jesna went missing and it should be of no concern to you if we are smiling or crying. If we are not crying, you should realise that we don’t even have it in us to cry at this point.” She adds that they have to get back Jesna somehow and there is no point crying.
“We are not animals, we are human beings. Why don’t you even accord us that status? We are three human beings. For 77 days, we are grappling with the sadness of Jesna’s disappearance and besides that, when we have to hear such allegations, what should we do? Should we commit suicide? Should we cry? Is this what you want?” Jais asks.
She adds that for the last one and a half months, these allegations have resulted in a lot of delay in the investigation. “At a time when the investigations were progressing smoothly, such allegations arose and this has deviated from the case. For the last one, one and a half months, the same thing has been going on. It’s actually going against the police investigation.”
“You will not be taking back any of these allegations. It is our loss only. After we get back our child, you will go back to your normal life. Even if you don’t help us, you shouldn’t trouble us. That’s all we have to say.”
Jais concludes by saying, “From now on, nobody should come to our house to help us. We have filed a case in court. We have full faith in the court. We will get a favourable verdict and we are sure of that. Jesna will definitely come back is what we believe still and that nothing has happened to her. We are very strong. You should pray and if you get any information, you should inform the police directly. And please desist from making false allegations based on hearsay.”