Pierce had been living in the state for the last 10 years on a tourist visa; he was running a fast food joint in Mattancherry, Kochi. Police sources said he left for Kathmandu from Mattancherry in a two-wheeler. Pierce’s mobile was switched off but police could track signals when he was in Goa, Madhya Pradesh, and also near the Chinese border in Kathmandu. Since the child’s and his passports were in the custody of the High Court, Pierce had managed to get a police report stating that his documents went missing.
Using this, he secured fresh passports from the British Embassy in Kathmandu. Once in Britain, he was pulled up for forgery. Soon, Anna received a call from the British Embassy offering all help. She was offered the legal services of Reunite International, UK’s leading charity specializing in the movement of children across international borders.
The world came to know about the kidnap of Sam by his own dad through a heartbreaking Facebook post on January 13 by Anna. In her post she wrote:
“After you have a child, you cannot miss their presence anywhere you turn in the house. I can’t run away from Sam’s books, toys, clothes, pictures he’s made, curtains I made for him, the fridge and kitchen is stocked with his favorite foods and his Christmas gift that Santa delivered to our temporary home address which is lying unopened. I was nervous about things getting out of hand and receiving unsavory responses, but I got only overwhelming support, which truly made me feel better. Sadly, my ex-husband later suggested in court that I gladly used social media for 15 minutes of fame.”
“The officials of the British High Commission in India were tricked into issuing a travel document for Sam to travel to the UK, but they were very decent in how they later handled the mistake. Most British institutions that I had to deal with worked in the same considerate and efficient manner. When faced with a problem, bureaucratic or otherwise, they wanted to sort it out rather than make it worse.”
“If you do not have a particular supporting document for some application, they are willing to consider alternatives, rather than make you go to different departments to get this elusive paper. This reduces the workload for officers and for the applicant. I wish our government offices could function like this. I was amazed by how they worked with me through every step. They advised me to hire someone from the list of solicitors provided on their website, and telephoned me almost every other day to find out how things were progressing legally and how I was feeling emotionally. It was like having someone on my side in London.”
“I met both ladies on the day of the proceeding. I was surprised by how young they were, but it didn’t come in the way of how efficiently they handled my case. My case was kept for the last that day because the judge wanted to wind it up in one session. He impressed me with his knowledge of Indian law and how he had read our voluminous Kollam Family Court and Kerala High Court orders and quoted relevant parts from it. The proceedings took about three hours,” Anna wrote.
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As The Deccan Chronicle reported, Tom made the mistake of representing himself. As Anna points out, a solicitor would have advised him to admit his mistake and find an amicable solution instead of being belligerent and behaving as if he had not committed any crime.
Though she received legal aid to cover court costs, air tickets and other expenses made it a costly affair. It was also an emotional roller coaster ride. “Many times I felt that the fight was too daunting. Many times I felt disbelief about the situation. The stories of other people whose fight seemed much harder than mine inspired me.” What also helped was that her parents, family, friends and old and current colleagues rallied around the journalist. “DGP Lokanath Behera is the greatest hero to me and to my family and friends now. He is an amazing policeman and a good human being.”
As Anna had written in her Facebook post, Sam can’t bear the thought of sleeping alone in a room and tells her that he would do that after he becomes a policeman. She wants him to be a policeman like Behera.