Family members, friends and concerned members of the community desperately searched for a young Laudium girl, after her mother reported her missing, this past Tuesday (October 31). The Gem Street mother was frantic when she discovered that her eleven-year-old daughter, who had gone to Madressah, did not return home that Tuesday afternoon.
Speaking to the Laudium Sun, Waida Patel, the mother of Tasmiya, a grade 6 learner at Jacaranda Primary, said that she had received a call from Moulana Moosa Kolvadia of the Pretoria North Muslim Education Institute, saying that her daughter, who attends the Madressah in the afternoons, at the Tshwane Muslim School (TMS) complex, had been suspended.
"I received the call at around 16:30 and was shockingly told that the reason for the suspension was because Tasmiya had been naughty. I told the Moulana that I was at the Centurion Mall and couldn't come immediately to fetch my child. He was very rude and adamant, telling me that my daughter was bunking Salaah [prayers]," Waida recalled.
"I rushed back, but due to the traffic, I got to the Madressah at around 17:30. There was no sign of Tasmiya, or anyone from the Madressah. I first assumed that Tasmiya had gone home, but when I got home and asked my elder daughter if Tasmiya had returned, she said that Tasmiya had not come home and that's when I started to panic!" continued the distraught mother.
"I informed all my family and friends, including the Laudium police, about Tasmiya's disappearance and was able to get information from the security guard at TMS, that Tasmiya was last seen on 19th Avenue at around 5pm. Many members of the community responded to my call for help and at around 8pm search parties were already being sent out to look for my baby.
What happened then, shocked me to my core! The Laudium police came to my home and told me that they were there to search the house for Tasmiya! My daughter was missing and my family was distraught and here were these cops telling me that they wanted to search my house for my daughter, whom I had reported missing! It made no sense to me! They turned my entire house upside down looking for Tasmiya and when they found no trace of her, they left, leaving me even more hysterical than I was before! I later learned that the elder brother of one of the trustees of the Madressah, got the police to search our house and also encouraged certain members of the community to call off the search for my child,”Waida exclaimed.
"I decided to contact Tasmiya's friends who\ attend Madressah with her, to see if I could get any information about my baby’s whereabouts and one of them told me that Tasmiya had been chased away from the Madressah by Moulana Moosa Kolvadia.
They also said that he told her to walk home as a punishment for misbehaving. I then approached Moulana Moosa at his home and he again treated the entire situation with disdain! He told me that he couldn't watch over my daughter, but arrogantly indicated that he did the right thing by sending her home. I couldn't believe that this was the attitude of the Moulana, especially when we were so frantic and trying so hard to locate Tasmiya," added the visibly shaken mother.
"I did not sleep at all that night trying to figure out where Tasmiya could be, and what could have happened. “On Wednesday morning at around 7:50, I got a call from the Atteridgeville police station. My heart jumped when I heard my Tasmiya's voice! She told me that she was at the police station and that I should come and pick her up,"Waida added. "I was overjoyed that my daughter had been found!" the mother exclaimed.
Speaking to the Laudium Sun in the presence of her emotional daughter, Tasmiya, Waida said that her daughter told her that after being chased out from the Madressah classroom by Moulana Moosa, she had been standing on 19th Avenue when she was grabbed by someone and blindfolded.
“All she could make out was that she was put into a car but she could not see anything because she was blindfolded. My baby said she started to scream and cry but someone told her to shut up. She was obviously scared and decided to listen. She said for hours she just sat there and cried silently.
Later, she remembered being pulled out of the car and left alone. When she managed to take off her blindfold she was terrified and didn't know where she was. She then asked a nearby hawker to call the police. When the police arrived, she gave them my number and they immediately contacted me, informing me that my Tasmiya was in Atteridgeville. I was so relieved and happy,” said the grateful mother. “I wish to thank my family, friends and the many community members who were involved in the search for Tasmiya throughout the night. May the Almighty reward them,” said Waida. Search
A community member who was involved in the search for Tasmiya on Tuesday night said, “It was so unfortunate that a certain well-known family from Laudium, linked to the Madressah, and who had the resources to assist in trying to locate the child, refused to help. In fact they encouraged others not to help in the search, claiming that the whole incident was a hoax. The elder brother of the family, instead of getting the police to assist with the search, got them to raid Tasmiya’s home claiming that the mother had harboured her and was trying to embarrass the Moulana”.
When the approached Moulana Kolvadia for his comments on the allegations made against him, he arrogantly said that he did not know what the fuss was about as he had done nothing wrong. He refused to comment further saying that the board would release a public statement later.
Found: Tasmiya Patel (11).
Relieved mother: Waida Patel.