Parents and relatives of the two missing persons in Goenshari of Punakha are losing hope to ever find them. A 21-year-old man and a 12-year-old boy went missing on February 2 from Goenshari Gewog. Several searches around the gewog and along the Mochhu River proved futile. About 40 people comprising the police, Desuups and local volunteers initiated another search yesterday. There was no trace of the missing duo.
The search yesterday covered a wide area from Goenshari Gewog to Yebisa in Chhubu Gewog. The search was confined mostly to the banks of the Mochhu river. Most of the people who were involved in the search from the beginning suspected that the missing persons have drowned. Some footprints and a facemask of one of the missing persons was sighted on the riverbank during one of their early searches. They were believed to be last seen in one of the shops below the Punakha-Gasa highway in Goenshari.
The father of the 21-year-old missing man said he has lost all hopes to ever find his son in person. He said his son was diagnosed with a brain disease at the age of 10 and was living under regular medication. “He cannot stay even a day without his medicine. I am sure he must have died,” he said. His missing son had to leave the school at the age of seven due to his disease.
“We expect to recover at least his body even if he is not alive now”, the sister of the 12-year-old missing boy, said. According to her, her missing brother had requested some money from their mother to visit a shop on that fateful day. While the mother forbade him from going out, the boy was thought to have sneaked out when the mother left for work.
“The searches were conducted thoroughly along the Mochhu River and in the nearby forest, but could not find a trace of him so far. We will still look along the river hereafter as well,” the sister added. The missing boy was supposed to study in class V from this academic session.
Meanwhile, the bereaved parents have completed conducting the series of death rituals for their missing sons.
Changa Dorji, Punakha
