PATHANAMTHITTA: James Joseph, father of Jesna who disappeared this day four years ago, is still hopeful and strongly believes that his daughter will come back one day. “I have not lost my hope on the investigation agency. I keep in touch with the CBI officials, who are investigating the missing case of my daughter and they have called me many times regarding the case,” he said.
Vechoochira native and 20-year-old second-year BCom student Jesna Maria James went missing on March 22, 2018. Though others might have started forgetting the case, Jesna’s family does not have a day in their life without thinking about her. It was in February 2021 that the Kerala Kerala High Court ordered a CBI probe into the missing case.
Some politicians had alleged that Jesna was in the hands of religious extremists. “I dont know where my daughter is now and what has happened to her. Hence, I cannot say whether she is in the custody of religious extremists or not. But I am sure she will come back and we are eagerly waiting for her,” James said. Jesna’s mother died in 2017 following a disease. On the day Jesna went missing, her elder brother Jaice John James, an engineering student, had gone to his college and her father was at his workplace.
She disappeared while going to her aunt’s house near Mundakkayam in Kottayam from her house. The investigation agencies confirmed that Jesna had got into a bus from Erumeli to Mundakkayam, but they didn’t get any idea about what had happened to her after that.While the investigation was on, the charred body of a young woman was found in Chennai after some months and it was suspected that it was Jesna’s. However, the DNA test confirmed that it was not her body.
The police had also announced a reward of Rs 2 lakh for those giving information about Jesna. But it also did not give any positive result. Though the state police had carried out a detailed probe, they could not find any substantive clue. Based on a petition filed by Jesna’s brother Jaice John and KSU leader K M Abhijith, the Kerala High Court later handed over the investigation to the CBI.