Where is she? Brother died last week, sister afraid, house locked

When The Indian Express reached their ground floor, one-bedroom flat in a run-down apartment building, it was Sahira who opened the door. 8220;I am a distant relative,8221; she claimed. 8220;They Zaheera and her mother no longer stay here. I do not know where they are.8217;8217;

But when she was told by this correspondent that he was aware that she was her sister, Sahira allowed the team to enter the flat. And admitted that her sister and mother had left in the morning after the news of the punishment broke.

8220;I do not know where they have gone. They left in the morning saying it8217;s not advisable to stay here any more. They told me that, 8216;we will contact you when we find a new place and then you come,8217;8221; Sahira said.

Asked how Zaheera had reacted to the apex court verdict, she said, 8220;She was disturbed. Our brother Nafitullah died last Thursday. But our laywer Atul Mistry will fight for us and appeal against the verdict.8217;8217;

About her brother, she said, 8220;He was very ill and nobody came to our help.8217;8217; When asked that the Gujarat police had provided her sister protection and the family had appointed an independent team of Gujarat-based lawyers, she said: 8220;That is only how it seems.8217;8217;

Her cousin Sanamullah Manihar, who had helped Zaheera and her family in June last year after they moved to Mumbai, said that Zaheera and her mother had severed ties with him after Zaheera had turned hostile. 8220;I tried to persuade them that what they are doing is wrong. But they didn8217;t listen to me. I had arranged for they stay when they had come here but I do not know what got on to them and how they were brainwashed and by whom. They refused to speak to me,8217;8217; he said.

It was only two months back that I learnt of Nafitullah8217;s Zaheera8217;s brother illness, he said. 8220;They had brought him here in a very critical condition. He died last Thursday of liver failure,8217;8217; he said. Records of the Mira-Bhayander Nagarpalika say Nafitullah 26 died of septicaemia last Thursday. He was buried at the Bhayander Kabrastan the next day in the presence of Sanamullah and few of his friends.

In the evening, when The Indian Express re-visited the flat, it was found locked. A neighbour said she had seen Sahira and her mother leave about half hour back. 8220;No, her sister was not with them and they were not carrying any luggage. I do not know where they have gone as they hardly used to speak to us or any of the neighbours since they moved here in June last year,8217;8217; the neighbour said.