Silvester D'Souza
Daijiworld Media Network - Kundapur
Kundapur, Jul 14: The case of an elderly lady who went missing 20 days ago seems to have baffled everyone, with no information about her whereabouts so far. Desperate efforts by her family and the police to trace her have gone in vain.
Malathi B Shetty (65), wife of Bhaskar Shetty, a resident of Korgi Charukottige near Tekkatte here, went missing on June 24. She had left from her house at around 1.30 pm saying she was going to visit a neighbour, and has not returned home since.
No one knows where she went or what fate may have befallen her. On June 24, she was seen coming out of her house after lunch, but nobody has seen her since despite concerted efforts to trace her from the last 20 days.
Her family members said that Malathi used to wear gold ornaments on a daily basis, and on June 24 at the time of going missing, she was wearing four gold bangles, karimani, gold nose ring, finger ring and earrings, altogether worth about Rs 3.5 lac. This has given to suspicions that she might have been kidnapped for gold by unknown persons. But the theory holds no water as by now such an incident would have come to light. All efforts to search for her have gone in vain. Even the police have failed to unravel the mystery, despite the fact that a canine squad was pressed into action the very day she disappeared. The canine could not trace her scent further than the compound wall of the family's house. Search operations in Korgi surroundings and forest areas too have bore no results. The police have pasted posters carrying Malathi's image in various public places, in the hope that someone may spot her.
The police as well as the family and the locals have also searched for Malathi in ponds, wells and other water bodies in the surrounding areas. On Monday July 13, the fire personnel themselves arrived and searched in nearby ponds and wells. But there was no sign of Malathi.
Also, CCTV footages in various temples including local ones and those in Dharmasthala, Subrahmanya, Sringeri and other places have also been examined to check if she had visited anyone of them. Malathi's son Sathish Shetty who stays in the US has come back to his hometown and stepped up the search for his mother. He has also appealed to Udupi SP Annamalai to help the family find her soon. A police team has been formed under the directions of DySP Manjunath Shetty and led by SI Naseer Hussain, but their efforts have gone in vain so far.
The desperate family, seeing no other way, finally consulted an astrologer, who asked them to search in a nearby pond. Accordingly, the family called the fire service and a search was conducted in the specified pond. The pond was only 5-6 metres deep, and the personnel looked for Malathi for sometime but came out empty-handed. They also looked in the nearby well but to no avail.
There were no reasons for her to commit suicide, say her family members. If she is no more, the extensive search should have at least revealed the mortal remains. If alive, someone might have seen her or she might have made attempts to contact her family. If kidnapped, there would have been some ransom call by now, feel the locals.
Speaking to daijiworld, her son Sathish Shetty said, "On June 24 at around 1.30 pm my mother mysteriously went missing. When she did not return home by evening we enquired with neighbours and relatives by phone. We then informed the police. It has been 20 days now but there is no news of her. We have searched everywhere and put up her posters in various places. If anyone has any information about her whereabouts please inform the police."
65-year-old Malathi is 5.5 ft tall, of fair complexion, greying hair, round face and medium build. At the time of going missing, she was wearing a cream white saree with baby pink blouse. She speaks Kundapur dialect of Kannada.
Anyone with information about her whereabouts is requested to contact 9448770427 or 9480402280 or the Kundapur police.