‘No Vijay, no Christmas’

“IF VIJAY is not home, there can be no Christmas!” These were words from Marilyn Persad who, through tears, spoke to Newsday last week on how she and her family were preparing for the Yuletide season. Her 11-year-old son Vijay Persad was snatched outside the family’s home six months ago and has not been seen or heard from since. A ransom demand has not been paid and police say they are still following up on several leads. “There will be no Christmas this year without Vijay. Not even his sisters and brother want to decorate the place or put up a (Christmas) tree,” the worried woman said.

Struggling to hold back the tears, the mother of four told Newsday that when everyone else celebrates Christmas, her family would be praying for her Vijay’s safe return. “We want nothing else. That will be our Christmas gift. I want back my son,” the woman cried. Still believing her family would be reunited with Vijay in time for Christmas, Mrs Persad said she purchased some Harry Potter books which her son particularly likes. “I am not giving up. I know my son is still alive and somewhere out there,” Persad said. Speaking about the hardships and emotional strain the family has endured since Vijay’s kidnapping, Mrs Persad pointed to large dark circles under her puffy eyes, which she said were caused by lack of sleep.

“I cannot sleep in the night. I check on the children all the time and it hard when you go in his room and you see an empty bed,” she cried. “My last daughter Ariyana who is three always talking to Vijay on her toy cellphone, asking him when he coming home. Imagine she ask me for a phonecard to put on the toy phone so she could call Vijay,” the woman  sobbed. Persad said it has also been very difficult for her son Sanjay and daughter Malini to cope. “I am sick most of the times and I taking medication because doctors say I am depressed.”

Persad and her husband, Ragkummar, as well as all sections of society have been making numerous appeals to the kidnappers to release the child. “I begging and pleading again —please let my son go,” Mrs Persad wept. On June 21, Vijay was assisting his father in locking up the family business — a small mini mart — located at the front of their Moruga home when three men accosted Vijay. The men grabbed him after Ragkummar denied them entry into the businessplace. An initial ransom of $300,000 was demanded but it was never paid and the kidnappers stopped contacting the family. Vijay’s relatives have offered $20,000 to anyone with information on Vijay’s whereabouts. On September 22, Vijay celebrated his 11th birthday in captivity.