How Mufti Mohammed Sayeed's daughter Rubaiya leads a quiet life in Chennai

CHENNAI: An air of secrecy shrouds the posh neighbourhood of Tarapore avenue off Harrington Road in Chetpet. Mufti Mohammed Sayeed’s daughter Rubaiya Sayeed, who was kidnapped by Kashmiri militants in 1989, has been leading a low-profile life with her family in an apartment here, provided round-the-clock protection by five personnel of the Tamil Nadu’s police’s special armed force unit.

Almost everybody in the area, including security guards, auto drivers and proprietors of grocery stores, know the exact location of her home.

Neighbours, who interact with her regularly, are wary of sharing details, but say the family is friendly. The security personnel are also guarded, pointing out that even regulars like milkmen and washermen aren’t allowed beyond a point. They seem wary of the threat lurking over their neighbour whose abduction had made international news as India had to set free five terrorists in exchange for her release.

Rubaiya has been with her father ever since he was admitted to Delhi’s AIIMS hospital. Her husband Sharif Ahmed, who runs an automobile showroom in Velachery, returned to Chennai on Thursday morning. “However at the airport, he was informed of Sayeed’s death and he flew back to Delhi on another flight,” said a policeman on guard.

The security guard says the late Mufti had never visited this home. In passing, he also points out that film producer G Venkateswaran, brother of director Mani Ratnam, allegedly committed suicide in the same apartment complex.

But the guard remains tight-lipped about Rubaiya though he does reveal that she has two sons and has been living here for at least 10 years.