JOIN US P K Yashwant, who went missing in 2006 from Mysuru, is languishing in a Lahore jail. His parents have now approached the High Court for help to bring him home.
Kushalappa and Meenakshi, Yashwant's parents, have been running from pillar to post since they saw his photo in a district newspaper and got to know his whereabouts. He was 18 when they last saw him, and is now 28.
A student of Cauvery Polytechnic in Virajpet, Kodagu district, Yashwant was in Mysuru for training. He disappeared a decade ago. In his last call to his family, he had requested Rs 1,000 to travel to Bengaluru with his classmates to look for a job. Meenakshi told DH over the phone, “We received a letter from the college saying his attendance had dropped. We were not aware where he had disappeared.”
Four months after he went missing, the couple received a call from a man who identified himself as Mujahid. He threatened them, saying Yashwant was in a house in Shantinagar in Mysuru. He offered to send the boy home in two weeks but only if they did not approach the police. The parents eventually tried to call the number, but couldn't get through. They then approached the Krishnaraja police station in Mysuru. The investigation hit a dead end, and police filed a B report in 2010, citing no progress. The couple's advocate (see box) feels the police didn't do enough to trace Yashwant.
Photo in a newspaper
In 2014, the parents spotted Yashwant's photo in a newspaper. It had been distributed by the High Commission of India in Islamabad, after the Lahore jail issued a picture identifying him as Ramesh, a 'mentally unsound prisoner from India.'
The High Commission wrote to the Ministry of External Affairs and the Foreigners' Division in the Ministry of Home Affairs to confirm the nationality of the prisoner, but they have done nothing, Meenakshi said.
The couple have now moved the Karnataka High Court, seeking directions to the Ministry of External Affairs and Home Affairs to bring Yashwant back.
'No help from ministries'
C N Srinivasa Rao, advocate for the couple, said, “Yashwant may not be able to respond to queries.” He blamed inaction by the police and the apathy of the central ministries for the plight of Yashwant and his parents.
“Despite writing to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, and personally meeting Home Minister Rajnath Singh, they have found no help,” he added.