Single mother becomes detective to find her missing son

A single mother in Maharashtra, India, became a detective to find her missing son.

In 2015, Farida Khatun, a single mother from Mumbra, Maharashtra, embarked on a heartbreaking and relentless search for her 17-year-old son, Sohail Qureshi, who vanished under mysterious circumstances.

On April 17, 2015, Sohail left his home in Amrut Nagar, promising to return in 10 minutes. When he failed to come back, Khatun reported the matter to the local police, only to be dismissed with a casual remark: “He must have gone to Ajmer Dargah like other boys his age.”

Unwilling to accept this indifference, Khatun took matters into her own hands. Balancing her job as a nurse at Mumbai’s J J Hospital and caring for another son undergoing surgeries, she combed through prisons, morgues, and children’s homes, refusing to give up.

In September, Khatun discovered that Shabbir, a friend of Sohail, had also gone missing on the same day. This revelation deepened her fears and led her to connect the disappearances.

With the help of journalist Mubin Shaikh, the mother gathered information and uncovered the involvement of two individuals, Deepak Valmiki alias Sam and Mohammad Chaudhari alias Babu.

The Thane Crime Branch eventually took up the case. The investigation revealed that Qureshi and Shabbir had been allegedly murdered by Valmiki and Chaudhari, the police claimed.

The police said that the duo had first killed Shabbir as he was opposed to Valmiki having an affair with his sister. The police said that they suspected Qureshi was the one who informed Shabbir about the affair so they murdered him as well.

In November 2015, the accused led the police and the grieving mothers to a ground in Turbhe, where they had buried the bodies of Sohail and Shabbir.

Mother’s determination brought the truth to light, but it came at an unbearable cost. Her story is a stark reminder of the lengths to which a mother will go for her child, even in the face of systemic failures.