Durban - ALMOST two weeks have passed since a Pietermaritzburg woman left her home and since then there is no sign of her.
Derisha Pather, 28, who was studying toward a teaching qualification, left her Athlone home in the early hours of January 4 in her family-owned 2007 model silver Ford Focus hatchback.
Her mother, Ravathee, said: “When I looked outside my bedroom window that morning, I saw that one of our vehicles was gone and Derisha was not in her room.
“I assumed she went to the shop. But I felt something was amiss. Her laptop bag was gone and her cellphone was charging in my bedroom.”
She said when her daughter did not return home shortly thereafter, her son checked the CCTV footage. It showed her leaving home at around 1am.
She was in pyjamas and was carrying a cream-coloured backpack and a laptop bag. Pather was then seen driving off.
Ravathee said they called the family to find out if they had heard from her.
“I even called her ex-husband and his mother but they did not know anything.”
She said following Pather’s divorce, she and her eight-year-old daughter returned to her family home in 2016.
“She was working on herself to ensure a better and brighter future for her child. Her daughter, who was with her other grandmother at the time, wants her mother back home.”
The family posted information about Pather’s disappearance and they have been following up on the leads.
“One person said they found my daughter and was with her at the Durban beachfront. But when we arrived, we could not find the person. We called and she said my daughter ran away.
“It is a stressful time for us. We want Derisha to know she must not be afraid to return home.”
Police spokesperson Colonel Thembeka Mbele said a missing person’s inquiry was opened at the Town Hill police station. For information, call the police at 10111.