After Indian woman’s mystery death in Paris, kin allege no help from diplomats

Sadhana Patel’s mother, sister and brother at their Malad home, on Wednesday. Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi

The French police have opened an investigation following the discovery of the body of a Mumbai beautician in the Seine river near Paris on April 4. The 31-year-old woman, Sadhana Patel, and her husband Shailesh Patel had allegedly illegally moved to France in 2018 via Russia and Germany, but became estranged after Shailesh allegedly began assaulting her. Sadhana's family says Shailesh has gone incommunicado, while not much help is coming from diplomats.

Sadhana's mother Shalini Labade told mid-day, "They got a visa for Kenya but their agents took them to Russia where they had to face a lot of legal hurdles and were imprisoned for six months. Later they somehow reached Paris via Germany but their vital documents were confiscated by the Russian government… I learnt about these developments only after my daughter Sadhana started to live separately in a charity home in Paris after facing marital disputes in the lockdown."

Sadhana's brother Gaurav Labade said Shailesh would often get drunk and beat her. "Hence she decided to live separately in a charity home. My sister would call our mother at least thrice a day. She last spoke to her on a WhatsApp video call on March 4 at 7.47 pm for 3:14 minutes. Since then she never contacted us," said Gaurav.

"An official at the Indian Embassy in Paris has told us that the French police have informed them over the phone that Sadhana was reported missing since March 4; then how come her last-seen status on WhatsApp is March 6? Who was operating her cellphone for two days when she already had gone missing on March 4?" wondered Gaurav, who lives in Ahmedabad but came to Mumbai along with his mother to seek help at the office of the French Consulate at BKC.

Sadhana Patel at a Russian jail. The couple was imprisoned there for 6 months

Her sister Manisha Shah, who lives in Malad East, said, "Sadhana was always in a habit of making late-night calls around 12 midnight to our mother, but on March 4, she did not make any call. Also, her cellphone went switched off after that."

After failing to contact Sadhana, her family began calling Shailesh.

"Shailesh would always tell us that Sadhana is residing in the charity home. But he never visited the charity home. Later, his cellphone also went switched off. We contacted his brother in London and he told us that his brother was in Portugal since more than a month. It means Shailesh was not in Paris when we started to contact him after my sister went untraceable," said Manisha.

Gaurav said he first visited a local police station in Ahmedabad but the cops refused to help.

Cousin writes to embassy

Things started moving after Sadhana's cousin Prem wrote to the Indian Embassy in Paris on April 11 to report her disappearance. The same day, the mail was forwarded to Kuldeepp Singh Negi, Second Secretary (Community Affairs, Education, Research & Technology).

On May 24, Prem received an email from the Indian Embassy in Paris about Sadhana's body.

"The French police have informed over the phone that Mrs Sadhana was reported missing on 04.03.2022 and her mortal remains were discovered on 04.04.2022 in the river near the city of Triel-sur-Seine," reads the email sent by Mohitesh Sharma, Embassy of India, Paris, Consular wing, OCI & Misc. services Section.

"Police have conducted the autopsy and cause of death is undetermined. French Police is undertaking criminal investigation. French Judge for criminal cases is likely to release the mortal remains on May 31, 2022," reads the mail.

"You may please note that French Police has not provided anything to us in writing as yet other than the details of the deceased. After receiving confirmation report from the police you are advised to contact the following funeral agencies [detailed file attached] for undertaking the documentation formalities and for transportation of mortal remains to India," reads the mail.

Hubby in Africa?

Manisha said, "In the email, Sharma has written that ‘The contact cell number of her spouse [Shailesh] provided by you has been replied by someone else in Mali, Africa. The contact cell number of ‘brother of her spouse' in UK has not been answered after several attempts. Please provide us details of Passport copy, etc of her spouse [Shailesh]'. "

After the recovery of the body, Mansha said, a forensic team reached the charity home on May 18. "Sharma told me that the deceased has been identified through DNA match with a piece of hair found in her [hair] brush kept at a place she lived," she added.

"We have not been sent the post-mortem report till date. We don't know if the body belongs to my sister or not. We have been asked to get in touch with the funeral agencies and if we want to bring the body to India, we will have to pay 5,000 Euros," said Manisha.

Gaurav said, "We don't know the name of the police station in Paris that is investigating the case. When we asked the embassy official in Paris, Mohitesh Sharma told me that the police only speak French and that if I know the language, he will give me the number. How am I supposed to know French?"

Shalini is yet to believe that her daughter is no more. "I don't know where my daughter is. She is a very bold girl and can't think of committing suicide. There is something amiss which police needs to investigate thoroughly and let us know."

"I am getting panic attacks and have been running from pillar to post to know the whereabouts of my daughter. I came all the way from Gujarat to Mumbai to meet embassy officials but we were not given entry. Can the ministry of external affairs or prime minister intervene?" urged the mother.

All efforts futile: Advocate

Advocate Sheetal Kanakia, a family friend of the family, is trying to help. "I have personally contacted the Ministry of External Affairs and mailed them and the embassy in Paris but I have got no response from them. Everything failed. I visited Videsh Bhavan and French Consulate in India but the French Consulate security did not let me meet anyone." She said, "An officer at Videsh Bhavan told me that there is no officer named Mohitesh Sharma in the Indian embassy in Paris. If our Indian government won't help the poor family where would it go? I request the Indian government and our foreign minister to look into the matter."

‘Locals alerted cops'

A source in Paris said the body was fished out after locals alerted the police. "It was so badly damaged that the police could not ascertain its gender. Her identity was revealed only after a DNA test." The body has been kept in a morgue. "If it's not claimed or repatriated to India, it will be buried here at a special crematory," said the source. One person has been arrested as she used to meet him.

Contact family: Embassy

When mid-day tried to seek more details from the Indian Embassy in Paris, Suresh Kumar, first secretary (consular), wrote: "We are in touch with the family of Mrs. Sadhana Patel as well as with the French authorities on the matter. However, since the matter is of personal nature, you are requested to contact the family for more details."

2018
When the couple moved to France

Timeline

March 4: Sadhana's last chat with her mother
March 6: Last activity seen on her WhatsApp
April 4: Body discovered from a river in city of Triel-sur-Seine near Paris
May 18: French police reach charity home Sadhana lived in, and confirm her identity after DNA analysis of the victim's hair sample
May 24: Family writes to the Indian Embassy in Paris