The mother of missing 21-years-old Melbourne man hopes her son would soon return to the family.
Reva Chitnis's son Tej went missing on April 27 after he left home to go to Melbourne city.![http://audiomedia-sbs.akamaized.net/punjabi_160506_491265.mp3 image]()
Admitting that this is the most difficult lead up to Mothers' Day in her life so far, she described how Mothers Day would usually be celebrated at home. "Typically, Tej would end up making breakfast for me every year. Not my older son, always Tej." Although its been 10 days now, since Tej has been missing, Mrs Chitnis remains fiercely optimistic.
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"I have to be hopeful. I am not giving up on my child," she said.
She said Tej may have left home due to some stress the family wasn't aware of.
“He told us he didn’t know what to do in his life. We told him to take a break. You don’t need to worry about your whole life when you are just 21. Maybe, that’s the pressure he put on himself rather than his parents.”
“If he has gone on his own accord, there was something he was hiding from us, and the stress he has been under or whatever… that’s not the child we know," she added.
She said members of the community, family and friends are working tirelessly to find any clue that may lead to Tej.
Have you seen this car? Source: Facebook
"We have the most amazing community, friends, family out there combing all of Healesville, Marysville. We have covered I don’t know how many kilometres.”
Police could have done more
However, the family feels the police could have acted more promptly in this case.
"I think, they (police) could have done much more earlier. I understand they have processes and procedures to follow. But, the leads that we give if somebody acts upon them really quickly would be ok. They have only yesterday assigned a senior detective to look into it. For me, that’s too late already.”
She also said that there is no one point of contact in the Police for information and feedback. Every time they went to the police, they had to deal with a different person.
Another clue
A member of the public informed the police on Thursday that he may have spotted Tej near St Huberts Vineyard in Coldstream around mid-day on the day he went missing. Police have obtained a CCTV image of Tej's car.
Earlier, Tej's phone records had shown a ping around the same area at 11.49 on the day of his disappearance.
Anyone who has seen Tej or has any information is urged to contact the Forest hill Police Station on 88473600 or call 000.
