After 51 days, missing twin sisters found living with ‘in-laws’ of one: Cops

The Detection of Crime Branch (DCB) Sunday traced 24-year-old Vadodara twin sisters to the in-laws’ house of one of them at Limbasi in Matar Taluka of Kheda district, 51 days after they went missing from Kala Ghoda circle in Sayajigunj. Based on the statement of the twin sisters, Sarika and Sheetal, they have been handed back to the family of the man whom Sheetal had married of her own will.

The DCB traced the twin daughters of Harni resident Chiman Vankar, who had filed a missing persons complaint at the Sayajigunj police station on February 17, after they failed to return home as usual from MS University where they were pursuing separate courses. “Since several teams had been formed to track down the missing sisters, their photographs and details had been shared with other police stations in the state… In response, the Limbasi police station informed the Vadodara DCB that it had received the marriage certificate of one of the two sisters, Sarika, whose picture matched with the missing person complaint… On investigating, it came to light that Sarika had married Dharmik Patel after the two sisters left their home in February,” DCB stated.

“We brought the girls back to Vadodara to reunite them with their family—father and brother. However, as per the statement of the women, their father had been mentally harassing them. They expressed keenness to continue living with the family of Sarika’s husband… Sarika’s in-laws, too, have submitted a statement saying that they are willing to allow her sister Sheetal to stay with them. So, as per the will of the women, they have returned to Limbasi,” said Harpalsinh Rathod, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Vadodara DCB.

The DCB, in its release, said, “The women have told the police that Sarika had befriended Dharmik on social media and the two had entered into a relationship. When Dharmik proposed marriage to Sarika, she accepted the proposal. The two women planned to leave their home because their father and brother had been pressurising them to marry elsewhere… The two women have also said that they had left a note in their bedroom before leaving the house, to inform the father about the decision.” According to the DCB release, Sarika and Dharmik had registered their marriage at the Mirzapur Sub-registrar office in Ahmedabad on March 27.