Craig Doody of New Zealand who tracked his ‘missing’ autistic daughter, Jessica in Patiala, has now filed a complaint with Patiala Police against her Indian boy friend, Gurdeep Singh Anttall (aka Garry).
Jessica who was in relationship with Gurdeep when he was in New Zealand, followed him to Patiala after changing her name and acquiring a new passport. She returned to Christchurch last week, after Gurdeep and his family helped her board a flight in New Delhi.
Since the day she went missing, Jessica’s family has been blaming the boyfriend for ‘brain washing’ her.
In an exclusive interview to this journalist this morning after his return from India, Craig confirmed having lodged a formal complaint yesterday to the DSP, OCCU(Organised Crime Control Unit), Patiala and the NRI Police Station, Patiala to “protect his daughter from Garry and stop his harassment.”
In his complaint (a copy of which is available with this journalist), Craig has alleged that (quote) “situation has gone from bad to worse since Jessica has returned back home” as “Garry has been in constant contact with her…”
Craig has further alleged that “Garry is now demanding Jessica to return $10,000 that he claims to have paid to the AIG NRI office of Punjab police to stop her being arrested by Punjab Police.”
Craig, in his complaint, has raised the question “why this amount was paid and why wasn’t Jessica given any paperwork if it was paid to avoid arrest, but my daughter was on legal visa in India”.
There has not been any success yet to get a response from Gurdeep.
When this journalist requested to have a phone conversation with Jessica, Craig politely declined as she was still not in a fit state of mind to answer any questions.
When asked, how she was coping after returning, and how she was treated by Gurdeep and his family, Craig replied, “She is still recovering and adjusting to the reality. They treated her well, but was not allowed to leave their home during her stay with them. And, she seems to have been happy there,too.”
However, he quickly retorted “But you have to understand that she has a mental age of a 16-year-old, unable to fully comprehend her situation.”
When asked the motive behind his filing the complaint and what he expected to achieve, he said that the family was trying to “protect Jessica from Garry and prevent his re-entry into New Zealand”.
To my question what if Jessica herself decides to return again to India, Caig replied that they were taking appropriate steps to stop that from happening. He refused to give details.
Craig also voiced his disappointment at the “lack of support” that he received from New Zealand authorities. He was, however, grateful for the immense support he received from the Indian community there, and hundreds of Kiwis, too, who shared the family’s concerns and posted messages of support on social media.
This exclusive story was also published in PressReader.com
