Today marks 19 days since 28-year-old Babita Sarjou was last seen by her family and her mother Champa Seenarine is pleading with anyone who knows of her whereabouts or what may have befallen her to contact them.
Speaking to Stabroek News yesterday Seenarine said her daughter, the mother of a four-year-old-boy, was last seen on Diwali day before she left for work at BK International. She said Sarjou, who was estranged from her husband, told her she would go to the motorcade later that day with him and their child who resides with the father in Kitty. The woman added that her daughter had been staying with her for the past year in Timehri and had indicated that she would be home by 9 pm.
“Me realise that Babita did not come home. The next morning I get up and check Babita room, Babita is not there so I wake up my granddaughter Sarah and said Babita did not come home and you must call her and see if she sleep by de husband.”
But Seenarine said that calls to both of Sarjou’s phones went unanswered. She added that about 15 minutes later her granddaughter received a text message from the missing woman’s husband enquiring about her whereabouts.
The woman said she then proceeded to the Timehri Police Station where she made a report and added that she also made reports at the Kitty Police Station. She is of the belief that the woman’s husband should know where she is and stated that the couple had two matters before the court. Seenarine said the husband is currently on bail for allegedly distributing nude photos of Sarjou at her daughter’s workplace and that the woman had subsequently filed for sole custody of their child; the other matter before the court.
The mother said she also went to the Human Services Ministry where the couple had been receiving counselling on the issues between them. According to Seenarine, her daughter had made several reports to the police in Kitty about the treatment meted out to her by her husband. The woman said she is dissatisfied with the police efforts to locate her daughter and is calling for search teams to be dispatched across the country to locate her. She added that she has her daughter’s passport and does not think she fled the country. She believes her daughter is alive and is being held captive by the husband though she noted that the police had said that they searched the couple’s house in Kitty and came up empty-handed.
“I’m asking him please give up Babita, release her and let her come home. We will drop the case, all case we will drop even if you want the child,” the woman said with tears streamed down her face. “I just want my daughter back.”
Sarjou was last seen at BK International on November 4 wearing a cream shalwar with blue stripes and is said to be five feet tall. Anyone with useful information can contact the mother or sister Anita at 688-9751 or 629-7621 or the nearest police station.
