Son’s desperate plea to find missing mum

A school teacher is appealing for help to find his mentally unsound mother who has been missing for more than six weeks.

Mohammed Siraz said his 49-year-old mother, Zareen Bibi, walked out of St Vincent’s Home in Suva on February 19 and has not been seen since.

“A life without a mum is very hard,” he said.

“I am really distressed — it is affecting me mentally, physically, and my daily life.”

Missing Zareen Bibi.

Ms Bibi, a long-term patient of St Giles Psychiatric Hospital, was last seen near the World Harvest Centre in Kinoya wearing a green salwar kameez. She has short hair and is of short height.

Mr Siraz, who now teaches at Lelean Memorial School in Suva after a transfer from Yasawa High School, said he was disappointed with the police response.

“The only effort they did was putting it up on the Facebook page. After that, they never called me, they never did a follow-up,” he said.

He said it took three to four days for other police stations to be alerted after the report was lodged, and an initial call to Toorak Police Station on February 19 resulted in no statement being recorded.

In response, the Fiji Police Force said missing persons cases were initially handled by the uniformed branch and referred to the Criminal Investigations Department when necessary.

Police said information was shared across divisions and coordination between stations had led to the safe return of missing individuals in many cases.

They also acknowledged a standard feedback system existed and said it would be reviewed in recent cases.

“We will look into these cases on whether the standard feedback system has been followed,” police spokeswoman Ana Naisoro said.

Meanwhile, police records show at least four new missing persons were reported last week, including a 13-year-old boy and a 14-year-old girl.

Nine previously reported missing persons were found and removed from the list.

Anyone with information on Ms Bibi’s whereabouts is urged to call Crime Stoppers on 919 or 917.