It has been five days since Jasna Mariya James, a 20-year-old woman from Pathanamthitta district went missing.
A second-year degree student at St Thomas College Kanjirappally, Jasna left home on Thursday morning. Living at Vechuchira, Mukkuttuthara near Erumeli in the district, she was last seen by local people at the Mukkuttuthara bus stop. According to relatives, she had called up her aunt who is living at Punchavayal to inform her that she was coming to her place.
She was on study leave and preparing for her exam to be held on April 3.
“She told her aunt that she was not able to study sitting at home. She got down from the bus at Mukkuttuthara and might have been on her way to Punchavayal. But nothing is clear so far. Nobody knows what happened after that, even the police is clueless,” Jasna’s cousin Bibin told TNM.
Jasna didn’t use her smartphone and doesn’t have an account on WhatsApp or Facebook. Hence, tracing her through any of these means is impossible. “She used a basic mobile phone device. Even that was left at home. At the time she left home, there was no one else there,” Bibin said.
Jasna’s mother Sancy died eight months ago due to illness. She was living in the house with her father James Joseph and elder brother Jaice John James. Jaice is an engineering student and had gone to college on the day Jasna went missing. James was away on work.
Jasna’s elder sister Jessy Mol is a B.Ed. student at Ernakulam. “She is very studious and concentrated only on her studies. The only things she carried with her were textbooks and notebooks,” Bibin added.
Jasna’s relative George said, “She is of silent nature. After her mother’s death, she had overcome the agony or at least that is how we all felt about it. We didn’t notice any change in her behaviour or we didn’t feel that she was sad about something. It was after her mother’s death that her semester exam happened, the result of which came recently. She scored 86% in that and was glad about it.”
But the police claim that she was depressed after her mother's death. "As per the information we got, she was more into prayers after her mother's death. We have searched her relatives and friends homes, churches, meditation centres, etc., but there is not the slightest indication to suggest where she has gone," Vechuchrira Sub Inspector C Dineshkumar said. Police have formed several squads to crack the case. "She has only three close friends. They also have no idea of where she could have gone. Since she left the phone at home, tracking the mobile tower has also been rendered useless," he added.