Disappearance of Rahul Raju: Difference between revisions

'''Rahul Raju''' was a seven-year-old boy from [[Alappuzha]] in [[Kerala|Kerala, India]], who went missing on 18 May 2005, while playing with friends in his neighborhood. The [[Kerala Police|local police]] that investigated the case could not find any evidence and the case is at present being investigated by the [[Central Bureau of Investigation]], India's premier investigating agency.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.hindu.com/2005/12/15/stories/2005121508910400.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060512075351/http://www.hindu.com/2005/12/15/stories/2005121508910400.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=12 May 2006 |title=Boy missing case: probe takes a new turn | location=Chennai, India |work=[[The Hindu]] |date=15 December 2005}}</ref>

Rahul was seven years old. He was the son of Raju and Mini. He lived with his mother in Alappuzha, while his father worked abroad in [[Kuwait]] with an oil multinational corporation. At the time Rahul disappeared, he was the couple's only child.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Rajeev |first1=PI |title=Sex, begging mafia trap Kerala kids: 400 in 2002, now over 1000 |url=http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/sex-begging-mafia-trap-kerala-kids-400-in-2002-now-over-1000/22961/ |website=Indian Express |access-date=28 February 2021}}</ref>

== Background ==

On 18 May 2005, Rahul was playing with his friends in the neighborhood when he took a break and went to drink water from a public [[Water tap|tap]] in the corner of the playground. That day, he was wearing shorts, a checked shirt, and a one-sovereign gold chain.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Express News Service |title=CBI Seeks Nod to Close Rahul Missing Case |url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/kerala/2014/mar/14/CBI-Seeks-Nod-to-Close-Rahul-Missing-Case-586124.html |website=The New Indian Express |publisher=The New Indian Express |access-date=28 February 2021}}</ref> He was last seen by friends who witnessed a bearded middle-aged man standing near to Rahul who snatched his cricket bat and threw it to his friends.  His friends collected the bat and continued playing. Later they noticed that Rahul was not playing with them.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IER20050521103732&Page=R&Title=Kerala&Topic=0 |title=Boy goes missing under mysterious circumstances |work=The New Indian Express |access-date=20 February 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080506155759/http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IER20050521103732&Page=R&Title=Kerala&Topic=0 |archive-date=6 May 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The local police that investigated the case questioned many people including a neighborhood middle-aged man, who admitted to killing Rahul and throwing his body into a [[marsh]]. However, the police have failed to trace the body and the investigation reached nowhere. Later the police found that the person's statements were false and fabricated. The mystery surrounding the disappearance of the boy continues as no tangible evidence was found.  CBI questioned different people including his neighbors. In February 2006, the CBI decided to make a neighborhood youth undergo a [[Narco Analysis]] test and approached the Chief Judicial Magistrate Court for permission. The court later commented that no special permission is needed to conduct a test. Earlier the alleged person had undergone a [[polygraph]] test also, but again there was no affirmative conclusions drawn.<ref name="thehindu3">{{cite news|url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-kerala/eight-years-on-rahul-missing-case-still-remains-mystery/article4729420.ece|title=Eight years on, Rahul missing case still remains mystery|date=19 May 2013|work=The Hindu|accessdate=19 May 2013}}</ref>

Several years after Rahul's disappearance, a man from [[Haripad]] named Krishna Pillai was arrested by [[Adoor]] police, for sexually assaulting and murdering a three-year-old girl. Pillai confessed to police that he had killed Rahul and thrown the child's body into a marsh in Alappuzha's Palace Ward. Police could not find the body there, nor any other evidence to substantiate Pillai's confession. Though he was jailed for the murder of the three-year-old, his involvement in Rahul Raju's disappearance was never proven. <ref>{{cite web |last1=Staff Reporter |title=Rahul case: CBI unable to trace boy |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Kochi/rahul-case-cbi-unable-to-trace-boy/article2889699.ece |website=The Hindu |access-date=28 February 2021}}</ref>

The [[Government of Kerala]] and the CBI each announced a reward of [[₹]]50,000 for information on his whereabouts.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/kerala/CBI-Seeks-Nod-to-Close-Rahul-Missing-Case/2014/03/14/article2107974.ece|title=CBI Seeks Nod to Close Rahul Missing Case |publisher=The Indian Express|date=14 March 2014}}</ref> The local police and the CBI remain clueless as despite considerable investigation they have uncovered no evidence as to the nature of Rahul's disappearance. However, it is widely believed that the boy was [[Kidnapping|kidnapped]], but no further information is available as to whether the child is alive or [[murdered]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.indianexpress.com/story/22961.html |title=Sex, begging mafia trap Kerala kids: 400 in 2002, now over 1000 |publisher=The Indian Express (Pictured)}}</ref> At least one sighting of the boy, in [[Mumbai]] in 2013, was reported to his father, but this was never confirmed.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Express News Service |title=CBI Seeks Nod to Close Rahul Missing Case |url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/kerala/2014/mar/14/CBI-Seeks-Nod-to-Close-Rahul-Missing-Case-586124.html |website=The New Indian Express |publisher=The New Indian Express |access-date=28 February 2021}}</ref>

Rahul's parents believe he is alive, and that he was kidnapped and taken abroad.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Express News Service |title=CBI Seeks Nod to Close Rahul Missing Case |url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/kerala/2014/mar/14/CBI-Seeks-Nod-to-Close-Rahul-Missing-Case-586124.html |website=The New Indian Express |publisher=The New Indian Express |access-date=28 February 2021}}</ref> When Rahul disappeared, Raju quit his job in Kuwait to come home and stay with his wife. He later found work in Dubai. Three years after Rahul's disappearance, his sister Shivani was born.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Rajeev |first1=PI |title=Sex, begging mafia trap Kerala kids: 400 in 2002, now over 1000 |url=http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/sex-begging-mafia-trap-kerala-kids-400-in-2002-now-over-1000/22961/ |website=Indian Express |access-date=28 February 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Staff Reporter |title=Rahul case: CBI unable to trace boy |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Kochi/rahul-case-cbi-unable-to-trace-boy/article2889699.ece |website=The Hindu |access-date=28 February 2021}}</ref>