Kolkata: The biological father of Sheena and Mikhail Bora, Siddhartha Das, has finally surfaced and demanded that the killer of his daughter should be hanged. Speaking to media persons in Kolkata, with his face camouflaged, Das asserted that he wants justice and those who were involved in the murder should be punished. After lingering in the shadows since the murder story broke, he was a different man on Thursday and offered the Mumbai police his whole-hearted cooperation. “If the Mumbai police need my help I am ready to offer them my assistance,” he said.
Also, the man who had walked out on his children when they were toddlers, never to set sight on them again, was bending backwards to prove that he is the biological father of both; for this, he was ready for a DNA test as well.
Das said that he was shocked to learn about the killing of his daughter and that he was always concerned about their well-being. But, at the same time, he had no answer when asked why he rang up his daughter just once in ten years.
“I last spoke to Sheena when she was studying in tenth standard and living with her grandparents in Guwahati. It was a short formal talk,” he explained and denied that he was reaching out to Indrani because he needed money.
Das had a not too convincing explanation why he had been lying low all these days. He explains that he came to know about the murder from television channels and newspapers and kept vacillating thereafter – whether to make his identity known or not. Finally, he confessed to his wife about his relationship with Indrani and the two children who he claimed were born out of wedlock.
“I was shocked when I learnt about the killing of Sheena and I could not sleep properly,” he said. Das recounted that he first met Indrani in Shillong in 1986 when she was a college student; at some point he moved into Indrani’s house as her live-in. “We could not get married even though Pori (Indrani) was carrying Sheena in her womb, as she was not an adult. So, we decided to live together and formalise our relationship after the baby is born. But that never happened, as again in 1988, a year after Sheena’s birth, Pori gave birth to Mikhail.”
But in 1988, suddenly Indrani snapped all ties, possibly in quest for greener pastures, and because his earnings were not enough. Das said that initially their relations were good but they soured after Indrani started demanding creature comforts. ‘‘One day, after a late night fight, she asked me to leave. I wanted to take the children with me but Indrani’s parents dissuaded me in view of my meager salary,” Das said. “I never seen saw her after that. Neither do I have any desire to meet her now,” he adds.
Later, in 1998, he married his present wife from whom he has a school going son. “Siddhartha is an important piece in the Sheena jigsaw puzzle. He will now open up. So, he may be grilled on Wednesday in presence of a Mumbai team,” said a source in Kolkata Police.
