By Gurbir Singh, Hamilton (New Zealand),April 16,2018:
Craig Doody of New Zealand who flew to India after his ‘missing’ autistic daughter, Jessica was found living in Patiala with her boyfriend, has now filed a complaint with Patiala police against Gurdeep Singh Anttall (aka Garry) seeking their intervention to 'protect' his daughter, as her family blames him for ‘brain washing' her.
Jessica who was in relationship with Gurdeep when he was in New Zealand, followed him to Patiala after changing her name and acquiring a new passport. She returned to Christchurch last week, after Gurdeep and his family helped her board a flight in New Delhi.
In an exclusive interview to this journalist this morning after his return from India, Craig confirmed having emailed a formal complaint yesterday from New Zealand, to the DSP, OCCU (Organised Crime Control Unit), Patiala and the NRI Police Station, Patiala to “protect his daughter from Garry and stop his harassment.”
In his complaint (a copy of which is available with this journalist), Craig has alleged that (quote) as “Garry has been in constant contact with her...the situation has gone from bad to worse since Jessica has returned back home.”
Craig has further alleged that "Garry is now demanding Jessica to return $10,000 that he claims to have paid to the AIG NRI office of Punjab police to stop her being arrested by Punjab Police.”
He has also raised the question “why this amount was paid and why wasn't Jessica given any paperwork if it was paid to avoid arrest, but my daughter was on legal visa in India.”
Efforts to contact Gurdeep have still been unsuccessful.
When this journalist requested to have a phone conversation with Jessica, Craig politely declined as she was still not in a fit state of mind to answer any questions.
When asked, how she was coping after returning, and how she was treated by Gurdeep and his family, Craig replied, "She is still recovering and adjusting to the reality. They treated her well, but was not allowed to leave their home during her stay with them. And, she seems to have been happy there,too."
However, he quickly retorted “But you have to understand that she has a mental age of a 16-year-old, unable to fully comprehend her situation.”
When asked the motive behind his filing the complaint and what he expected to achieve, he said that the family was trying to “protect Jessica from Garry and prevent his re-entry into New Zealand”.
Craig was grateful for the immense support he received from the Indian community there, and hundreds of Kiwis, too, who shared the family's concerns and posted messages of support on social media.
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Gurbir Singh is a New Zealand-based Freelance Feature Writer & Journalist. He can be contacted at: gurbir@journalist.com