Leave our family alone, appeals Jesna's sister Jais John James
The family is at pains to see insensitive messages emanating from different quarters.
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The family of second year BCom student Ms Jesna, who has been missing for 77 days, has appealed to be left alone, with a special request to politicians not to pillory their father on the basis of unfounded fears. In an indirect reference to Mr P.C. George, MLA, on her Facebook video post, Jesna’s sister Jais John James rues that “even politicians, without knowing the truth have been making false allegations against us”. Mr George, in a typical and thoughtless outburst, had demanded that the police question Jesna’s father for her disappearance. Even the media had compounded the family’s tension and anxiety, trailing the police search, especially the effort to see whether a charred body in Chennai was that of Jesna.
The family is at pains to see insensitive messages emanating from different quarters. There have been “several allegations against us in society… we have not taken them seriously. These allegations are in the nature of harassment. They (society) should have been supporting us in our difficult times. But their reaction is as if we have done something wrong,” says Ms Jais John. The police, apparently under pressure over its failure to trace a person reported missing since March while she was en route to her aunt’s house, scoured the bushes in Kanjirapally to rule out the worst.
“My brother and I don’t have the slightest misgivings about our father, who has been taking care of us since the death of our mother 10 months ago. We were recovering from the shock of her death when Jesna went missing. Please understand our situation.” She was pained by unsympathetic media queries and speculations about the extent of grief suffered by the family. “You offer to console us but when you engage the public, you should be fully aware of the facts. You should not churn out baseless statements based on hearsay because society tends to believe you. Put yourselves in our place, think of the pressure on us… If we do not seem to be bereaved, please realize we are sapped so much”.
“For 77 days, we have been mourning Jesna’s disappearance. Should we commit suicide? Should we cry? Is this what you want?” asks Jais. Ms Jais says the family has full faith in the courts. Quite often several leads had sprung up but got nowhere. Often there has been utter confusion in the course of the investigation. Enough is enough. “Jesna will surely come back. Pray for us and if you get any information, please pass it on to police. But please do not come home to console us”.