The family of a Cape Town student studying in Kwa-Zulu Natal fears the worst after they lost contact with him a month ago. 24 year old Yazeed Akiemdien has been a student at the Madrassah Inaamiya in Camperdown outside Pietermaritzburg for the past four years and went missing from his school on the 3rd April 2015. Akiemdien is in his 3rd year of study in an alim course. He had reportedly informed the ustaad of the madrassa, Maulana Muhammed Kathoria that his father had booked him a ticket to come up to Cape Town.

“Yazeed informed me that his father had booked him a ticket to Cape Town but that was not true because his father was made aware that I had booked him a ticket to Cape Town. The boys had the Easter weekend off and despite transport being arranged for students to go to the bus stations , Yazeed said it was too early for him to leave and he would leave after Jumuah,” said Maulana Kotharia, adding that it was the last time he saw the student,

But according to his sister Kareemah Ismail, the ustaad’s version of what happened does not add up. She said the ustaad did not inform the family that he was not returning to school, but a student did.

Ismail said her brother did not state that his ustaad booked him a ticket either.  She also claims that the ustaad informed the family that Akiemdien left after Good Friday.

On the 13th April, Ismail and her family were informed of Akiemdien’s disappearance. When the family travelled to the madrassa, she said the ustaad informed the family that their brother said he was going home to Cape Town for the break. But the family said they did not book him a ticket and were not aware of his apparent plans to make his way home.

When they checked his dormitary, they found all his belongings still at the madrassah including his cellphone which they could not unlock.

“I managed to get Yazeed’s phone from the madrassah however it is protected with a password and getting it unlocked will mean losing everything on it. We just want to be able to check the phone to see if there is any information we can get from it,” said Ismail.

The next day they lodged a missing person report at the Camperdown Police station. The family also went on a search at hospitals and mortuaries in surrounding areas in Pietermaritzburg but found nothing,

Ismail said she did not know if her brother had cash on him and his ID is with her mother in Cape Town.

Their mother was taking it extremely hard, while their father could not understand what could possibly made him disappear. Ismail said it was not like him to just walk out on them as family. She says their dad was hurt and trying to be strong.

According to Kotharia, Akiemdien was wearing a kurta and he had one bag. Akiemdien’s friends have been questioned by officials and they have denied knowing his whereabouts. In fact they added that he showed no signs of him wanting to leave the madrassah.

The detective in charge of Akiemdien’s case, Seargent P S Khumalo said the investigations are still underway.

“We have obtained statements from the students and people related to the case. The statements suggest that this was a planned incident however we are still investigating the matter.”

The family has appealed to the community to come forward with any possible information that may help in the case. Anyone with information can contact Seargent P S Khumalo on 072 617 6237. VOC (Najma Bibi Noor Mahomed)