Mumbai:
Mystery shrouds the sudden disappearance of the domestic help who had, in June 2009, accused actor Shiney Ahuja of raping her.
Mid Day went to her home near Roha in Raigad district yesterday. Strangely, the entire family has been missing from the village for the past fortnight and no one knows about their whereabouts.
A neighbour told this newspaper that the rape victim and her family members have vanished from the village without a trace.
"They did not inform anyone they were leaving," he said.
A next-door neighbour, who did not want to be named, said, "Earlier, the family used to hand over the house keys if they were going out of the village for a few days.
They used to keep us posted about where they were going. It is a mystery why they have left like that."
Initially, the rape victim had enjoyed the full support of the villagers. Almost all the villagers were up in arms against Shiney Ahuja and sought punishment for him.
Now, however, the sympathies for the family are whittling away after the maid's about-turn and the disappearance.
Almost everyone in the sleepy village, about 180 km from Mumbai, is talking about why the girl retracted her statement.
"It beats me. I still don't understand why she retracted her statement," said Sunil Mhatre, a villager, adding, "The family was poor and they were looking for employment."
The maid's 60-year-old father, who had been working for a local politician to support his four daughters and a son after his daughter's accusation last year, hasn't left a scent behind.
Even the politician is at a loss to explain the mysterious disappearance of the victim, and her turnaround in court.