Rape-murder: A family guards its privacy

The security guard at the Prabhat Colony in suburban Santacruz in Mumbai is not letting anybody in without thorough questioning. He has strict instructions -- keep the media out.

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Prabhat Colony is where Nagardas Parekh and his wife Vashomatiben moved from Kolkata after their 14-year-old daughter, Hetal, was raped and smothered in 1990 by Dhananjoy Chatterjee, a security guard at their Kolkata home.

The rapist-murderer's plea for clemency, probably his last chance to escape a death sentence pronounced in 1992, was rejected by President A P J Abdul Kalam on Wednesday.

The Parekhs, however, have not spoken to the media even once after they moved to Mumbai. The last time some journalists managed to get close to them, the building's security guard was sacked.

The family later informed the colony's administrative body in a letter that they did not want their privacy violated again.

The security guard said Nagardas Parekh and Vashomatiben left for Gujarat on Tuesday evening. Their son, who is married and has a daughter, we were told, was away at the office.

The Parekhs, it's obvious do not like talking about what happened in 1990. Very few people in the colony knew about the incident till the media landed at their gates the last time Dhananjoy Chatterjee was facing death. The rapist had then won a reprieve when the President referred his clemency plea to the Union Home Ministry for opinion.

It may be the end of the road for Chatterjee now. It's also probably time the Parekhs were left alone to live peacefully with the memories of their daughter.