15 April,2011 06:40 AM IST | | Rinkita Gurav and Chetan Dubey
After 5-yr-old Karnit went missing, his desperate family put his photo up on the site, urging people to share it, hoping someone out there would spot him
Five-year-old Karnit has been missing for the past eight days. And as police attempts to find him have yielded no results so far, his father is doing all he can to find his little boy again.
So while cops are investigating the matter, Anand Shah (37) is thinking of ways to reach out to the masses in the hope that someone would get back to him with information about Karnit's whereabouts. With this forlorn hope, he has stepped into the virtual world.
The Shahs uploaded the photo on the site on April 9. (Inset) Karnit
Shah, a Kandivli resident who works with the Bombay Stock Exchange, has begun a thread on Facebook, sharing his son's picture and his contact number. He said he didn't want to sit back and wait for the police to find him.
On the evening of April 6, Karnit was playing with his friends in his building premises, after which he didn't return home.u00a0 "We looked for him in every area of Kandivli for two hours, and finally complained to the police at 9:30 pm. We have no idea what's happened and how he is!" Shah said.
Since then Shah and his family have been on their toes to find the five year old. "We have approached the police and they are doing their best to solve this case," he said, adding that investigations are going stage-wise and slow, and that they want to do whatever they can.
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For mass awareness, the family started using Facebook. "To reach more people, we made use of social networking sites with mass appeal.
Karnit's first photo was uploaded on Facebook on April 9 on Shah's profile with a message urging people to respond if they spot him.
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Since then, the online community has picked up his message, and is doing its bit by sharing the missing boy's photo, and disseminating the message.
'We have faith'
The aggrieved father has not received any ransom notes or calls or anything of the sort. "The police are clueless too, but they are doing their best. We have complete faith," Shah said. "Meanwhile, we are doing what we can."
His friends and family have been fasting since last week, praying for the return of the boy. Mahesh Patel, Andheri resident and Shah's closest friend, said, "We have stuck posters of the boy on taxis and rickshaws in the area. Our friends have stuck them on their cars."
Said shah, "I just have one message for everyone in the city that please do not allow your child to talk to strangers. The next thing I would request the government for is to install CCTVs at various locations. We do not have any kind of rivalry with anyone and living on hope till now."
On Facebook
Many from the Facebook community have seen Shah's appeal along with Karnit's photo and want to do their bit toward helping him out.
Devika Ghedia, an engineering student, who shared Karnit's photo with her friends, said, "Karnit seems to be very innocent and that's what made me read the entire photo caption about the missing boy.
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The least I could do was to share it with my friends. As the news spreads, may be it will help bring back the child."
Another Facebook user, freelancer Anita Vyas, said, "The boy's face was so captivating and I just wanted to do my bit for the family.
Facebook connects so many people and someone may see the child somewhere and inform the parents. It was my way of contributing."
Suman Sourabh, an animator, said, "It is a noble thing to do and I wanted to help in. One shouldn't think much before doing anything that can help someone and it was just a click which could help them."
EXPERT SAYS
Dr Vijay Mukhi, cyber expert, said, "Although it is a positive thing that people are helping out through this medium, one needs to beware of pranks and rumours. Everything on Facebook has to be absorbed with a pinch of salt and one needs to verify it. I would prefer a newspaper than a social networking site as there is no way of verifying the truth on Facebook in such cases."
