MELAKA: A 53-year-old housewife is desperately seeking help from the authorities and the public to help locate her elder brother who went missing a month ago.
Together with her husband, Jay Pillay, 56, P. Thamarai Selvi Sarkunamary searched high and low for her missing brother, Francis Devasagayam T.A. Pilavendran, 66, an odd job worker.
“On July 22 at 12.30pm, my brother called to make plans with me to visit my niece’s husband, who suffers from heart issues, at the Tuanku Ja’afar Hospital in Seremban. He said he would go there by bus first, and he would meet me there. But when I arrived at 2.30pm, I could not find him anywhere in the hospital,” she said.
However, at 7.30pm on the same day, Thamarai Selvi received a call from her brother, saying that he was lost.
“He said he was lost somewhere in the jungle but he did not know where he was. He kept saying it was very dark and he could not find his way out.
“When I asked how he ended up in a jungle instead of a hospital, he said he came down from the bus and asked for directions to the hospital, but the locals did not know how to go to the hospital.
“Then, as I tried getting more details on where he was, I lost contact with him at 10.45pm. I think his Nokia phone ran out of battery, with my calls all going to voicemail,” she said.
Thamarai Selvi suspected that her brother had gone to the Seremban bus terminal from the Melaka Sentral bus terminal, then took another bus to the hospital before losing his way.
“My brother (doesn’t forget) things. He has no problems like Parkinson’s or dementia. My other siblings and I are extremely worried about his safety... I do not know what sort of difficulty he is going through now.
“We have searched everywhere we thought he may possibly go, in Bukit Rasah, Mantin, Kuala Pilah, Port Dickson, Masjid Tanah... we even tried to contact all of his close friends, but they said he has not visited them for quite some time,” she said.
Thamarai Selvi said her brother was unmarried and lived alone in a rented room in Jalan Parameswara in Banda Hilir, here.
“He usually earns his income by selling paintings and souvenirs near the St Paul hill and clock tower. The last time I saw him was a few days before he went missing... he was sitting at a coffee shop eating wantan mee a few doors from where he stays, but I did not stop to talk to him.
“But since the incident, I have been going to his rented room to look for him and the coffee shop, but he is nowhere to be seen,” she said.
Thamarai Selvi appealed to those who may have seen her brother to contact her at 012-9168761 or her husband at 012-9785379.
“I am worried about his safety and I just want him to come back home. I do not have any reward to offer, because I am not well-to-do. My husband is only an agent for a courier service, but I hope the public can help,” she said.
Thamarai Selvi lodged a report at the Banda Hilir police station about 8.10am on July 23.