HYDERABAD: After 20 hours of nervewracking wait, UP native Sanju Chaman heaved a sigh of relief on Tuesday as her 6-year-old son Ayush, who had been kidnapped, was tracked down and rescued. Ayush and his sister Anjali were seen playfully fighting over a packet of biscuits and later sharing it. Sanju, whose husband passed away last year after battling cancer, says she’s now living only for her children.
“After coming to Hyderabad, there were days when I did not get food, but I made sure my kids got something to eat,” she said. Speaking to Express at North Zone DCP’s office, Sanju also explained how she was tortured by her brother in law, who forced her to marry him after her husband’s death. I never lost hope, says Sanju, “but I was really worried about his safety. I did not know where to run. On one side my son was missing, on the other my daughter was constantly crying,” she says.
Though she has no money in her hand to travel back, she is determined to go back and take care of the fields owned by their family and send her kids to school. After her husband Dileep’s death, his brother Vijay Bahadur has been allegedly forcing her to marry him. She also alleged that he used to come home drunk and beat her up. “Even on Sunday, I came to the station believing he will help me get back home,” says Sanju.
Predators
The women are said to have targeted kids who usually looked hungry, or were asleep or away from their parents in public places. Cops suspect they could have kidnapped more kids and sold them to needy couples.