Majid Jahangir
This missing case is different in that it took place before insurgency began. Farooq Ahmed Teli of south Kashmir's Tral was detained by police in 1988. Thirty years old then, Teli, a resident of Diver Tral, was picked up from his residence in March 1988 for allegedly duping some local people. Teli was a labourer and the family's lone bread earner.
Jelli his wife, accompanied by his brother, went to see him at Pahalgam police station. His wife says they met him in the lockup. He told them he was innocent and asked them to do something urgently for his release. The two assured Teli that everything will be fine. It was the last they saw of him.
The family has never seen him since and believes he is no more. Police say he escaped from custody.
"The next time we went to see him (Teli), police told us he had escaped from custody," recalls his wife who was then six months pregnant. "We were shocked to hear it and immediately lodged a case with the police."
Teli's neighbours and close relatives started a search for him. "We went from pillar to post, but to no avail," says his neighbour Mohammad Amin who has been following the case for the last 19 years. "A few policemen told the family in private that he had died in custody."
After Teli went missing, his wife faced tough days both on the domestic front as well in her search for her husband. "I worked as a domestic help and earned for my two sons and a daughter. Besides, I had to save money to follow my husband's case," says Jalli.
The family met senior police and civil officials to know the whereabouts of her husband and lodged a complaint with the State Human Rights Commission in 1997 accusing the police of custodial disappearance. The court later issued summons to police officials of the district. The court was informed by police that Teli had escaped from custody and an FIR was already registered in the case. Even as the family still waits for justice, they have lost all hope of Teli's return.
"I don't believe my husband will return," says Jelli. "He was intelligent. Had he been alive, he would have contacted us. But that never happened. So we have the firm belief that he is no more," says Jelli who had to face strange questions from her youngest son born after his father went missing. "My son Manzoor Ahmed asks me how he would recognise his father whom he has never seen. I have no answers for his simple questions. I console him giving him false hope."
This missing case is different in that it took place before insurgency began. Farooq Ahmed Teli of south Kashmir's Tral was detained by police in 1988. Thirty years old then, Teli, a resident of Diver Tral, was picked up from his residence in March 1988 for allegedly duping some local people. Teli was a labourer and the family's lone bread earner.
Jelli his wife, accompanied by his brother, went to see him at Pahalgam police station. His wife says they met him in the lockup. He told them he was innocent and asked them to do something urgently for his release. The two assured Teli that everything will be fine. It was the last they saw of him.
The family has never seen him since and believes he is no more. Police say he escaped from custody.
"The next time we went to see him (Teli), police told us he had escaped from custody," recalls his wife who was then six months pregnant. "We were shocked to hear it and immediately lodged a case with the police."
Teli's neighbours and close relatives started a search for him. "We went from pillar to post, but to no avail," says his neighbour Mohammad Amin who has been following the case for the last 19 years. "A few policemen told the family in private that he had died in custody."
After Teli went missing, his wife faced tough days both on the domestic front as well in her search for her husband. "I worked as a domestic help and earned for my two sons and a daughter. Besides, I had to save money to follow my husband's case," says Jalli.
The family met senior police and civil officials to know the whereabouts of her husband and lodged a complaint with the State Human Rights Commission in 1997 accusing the police of custodial disappearance. The court later issued summons to police officials of the district. The court was informed by police that Teli had escaped from custody and an FIR was already registered in the case. Even as the family still waits for justice, they have lost all hope of Teli's return.
"I don't believe my husband will return," says Jelli. "He was intelligent. Had he been alive, he would have contacted us. But that never happened. So we have the firm belief that he is no more," says Jelli who had to face strange questions from her youngest son born after his father went missing. "My son Manzoor Ahmed asks me how he would recognise his father whom he has never seen. I have no answers for his simple questions. I console him giving him false hope."
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