The Hindu : 'Missing' woman scribe was in City

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jan 12, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Andhra Pradesh-Hyderabad

'Missing' woman scribe was in City

By Our Staff Reporter

HYDERABAD Jan. 11. The Panjagutta police on Saturday achieved a major breakthrough in the investigation of a missing woman journalist, Violet Godwin from Mumbai, by gathering evidence of her stay in two City hotels.

However, the fact that she checked into these hotels -- Aditya Park Inn and Tulip Manohar - on two different names, Elba and Machado respectively, only confounded the mystery surrounding her disappearance.

A journalist, Ms. Violet came to Mumbai from Bahrain on December 11 for Christmas vacation and was missing since December 15 after she went out to a market. The case took an interesting turn when a call received by her family members on December 17 midnight, was traced to a telephone booth in Hyderabad.

The first major lead in the case came from the statement of an auto rickshaw driver, Mohd. Sabir, who dropped her at Aditya Park Inn on December 17. Inquiries with the hotel management revealed that she checked into the hotel on December 16 evening. The same night, she went to Gayatri Communications (a telephone booth) in Ameerpet and called up her home in Mumbai. She spoke for a few seconds and paid a bill of Rs. 3.25. The next day she checked out of Aditya Park Inn and checked into Tulip Manohar on a different name, Machado. Further investigations revealed that she purchased readymade clothes worth Rs. 23,000 at Unique Collections in the City. The shop owner told the police that she claimed to be a businesswoman from Goa.

During searches in the room she had stayed in, the police stumbled upon evidence that Ms. Violet flew down from Mumbai to Hyderabad under the name of Elba on December 16. She exchanged $1,000 dollars for Indian currency at the Mumbai International Airport and purchased two watches in Mumbai. She was last seen at the hotel on December 18. The hotel staff made it clear that she was alone and did not talk much.

The hotel management reportedly told the police that they could give exact time of her departure from the hotel by checking the computerised list by Sunday morning. The evidence gathered so far had suggested that she was not kidnapped but was travelling on her own.

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'Missing' woman scribe was in City