ELECTION 99
COLUMNISTS
DIARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
YEH HAI INDIA!
ELECTIONS
ARCHIVES

Search Rediff

Alleged kidnapper surrenders

A P Kamath

With Ikram Mohammad Imamuddin's surrendering to the Houston police on February 8, and being held, pending a bail of $ 150,000, the Aggarwal family could relax a little.

"They can at least sleep well," said a family friend.

But community leaders here say that the alleged kidnapping of 19-year-old Shalu Aggarwal by Imaduddin, 20, and the events leading to it need to be examined.

There is an increasing concern that a number of Indian teenagers have left their parents, says Devika Patel of the Hindu Society of Houston. Patel is urging social workers and community leaders to study the phenomenon and suggest ways to improve the relationship between parents and teenage children.

According to people who have known Aggarwal and Imaduddin, their friendship ended abruptly a few weeks ago. When he realized that she never wanted to meet him, he allegedly broke into her house, beat her mother, and abducted Shalu at gunpoint.

Shalu managed to escape after she got him to stop at a shop so that she could by some clothes. He disappeared before the police arrived.

"But there was so much publicity given to the case. He could not have possibly remained hidden for long," said the family friend of the Aggarwal's. "We are surprised that he evaded the police for a week. Who might have helped him, we wonder."

Community leaders say there have been several cases of Indian teenage girls eloping with their boyfriends or having relationships that go sour.

"In many cases, these young women came from single parent homes," said another friend of the Aggarwal family.

Devika Patel said single mothers are over-burdened and, therefore, unable to give attention to their children. Had they lived in India, there would have been some support system, from members of the joint family or relatives, she said.

She is urging the Hindu community to consider what can be done to prevent similar tragedies. Many girls go after boys because they feel, mostly wrongly, that they are not appreciated or wanted in their homes, said the friend of the Aggarwals.

"There is a communication gap," he said. "And many young teens are afraid to discuss their personal life with the parents because they are afraid of being condemned."

The Indian community is so preoccupied with its success stories, hardly anybody notices the flip side, that there are many families that are utterly poor -- and that there are homeless Indian people, he said. He was, in part, referring to Shankar Rao, a San Francisco resident, who lives in a shelter for the homeless.

Some people blame the media. "We are afraid to read articles that we perceive as negative," says a volunteer with Narika, the women's advocacy group in San Francisco. "We don't want to read something that makes us restless, that makes us think about ourselves or the Indian community.

"We wait for the mainstream media to show us what is wrong with us."

Imamuddin is expected to appear before the judge next week. If he is found guilty, he faces about six years in prison.

EARLIER REPORT:
Hunt on for man who abducted teen

Previous: Pukar gets little response

Tell us what you think of this report