Last month, Fareeda was reunited with her 10-year-old son who was kidnapped from a government hospital in 2007.
But the joy of this reunion was short-lived as she is again counting days until her son, Shadab, returns to her. Awaiting the DNA report, Fareeda is both eager and anxious. Her anxiety stems from her son’s “unresponsive” behaviour towards her, and her husband Afsar.
Boy is at an NGO
Having lived with his “foster” parents for nine years, the boy now refuses to acknowledge Fareeda and Afsar.
A resident of north-west Delhi’s Bhalswa Dairy, the couple has made several trips to see their son in the last few weeks. “But Shadab has not spoken a word to me. At most, he nods when I ask him something,” says Fareeda.
The boy, who was named Shadab by Fareeda and Afsar, is at an NGO in east Delhi’s Dilshad Garden ever since he was rescued. He was kidnapped from north-west Delhi’s Babu Jagjivan Ram Hospital in November 2007.
“The NGO staff tell him that we are his real parents and urge him to hug us, but he has been hesitant. He insists his parents are elsewhere and tries to run away from us,” says Shadab’s father, Afsar, who owns a mobile phone repair shop.
Since Shadab’s biological parents have decided to stick to his the name they gave him, the NGO staff have been trying to get him used to it.
“Only once did I call him Sameer, the name his “foster” parents gave him, and he immediately looked up. I will never use that name for him again,” says Fareeda. The parents, however, had anticipated this problem. “Even in court, my son kept looking towards the kidnappers,” Afsar adds.
On August 24, DCP (East) Rishi Pal had confirmed that Shadab was Fareeda and Afsar’s biological child.
However, a DNA report is still awaited.
“I am told the DNA report takes anywhere between one to three months. But since I know my child, the DNA report is not worrying me. What concerns me is if my son will ever see me as his mother,” Fareeda told The Hindu .
Fareeda says she will never forgive the kidnappers, who have been arrested, no matter how well they may looked after her son. “I cried so much in the last nine years that my eyesight has been affected,” she says.
Shadab has not spoken a word to me. At most, he nods when I ask
him something
Police have confirmed that Shadab is Fareeda and Afsar’s child. However, a DNA
report is awaited
