Baby Umar's mother urges kidnapping suspect: Turn yourself in, get help

While she is relieved to have her son returned to her in good health, Adeeba Ali, the mother of two-year-old Umar Ali, is urging his kidnapper to surrender to the police and seek professional help.

Umar was snatched from the Quash Trace, Sangre Grande, home of his family early last Tuesday morning by a male relative who broke into the house.

His disappearance sparked a search throughout the Eastern Division as police and volunteers from the Hunters Search and Rescue Team searched several dirt tracks.

Umar was eventually found by a joint team of police and volunteers at a camp in a forested area off Barker Trace, off Coalmine Road, Sangre Grande, on Monday afternoon.

The relative, who police suspect kidnapped him, ran away on seeing the police and remained on the run up to Tuesday afternoon.

Speaking with Newsday at the family's home on Tuesday, Ali said she felt as if a weight has been lifted from her as Umar was found unharmed.

She said the relative involved in taking Umar was known to her, and felt he had several personal and psychological issues that needed urgent attention.

"It's best if he gives himself up now before it gets worse, he could still do some foolishness and end up in more trouble.

"He needs help. He's mentally unstable.

"I hope he gets what he deserves, which is whatever the court decides."

Ali, 18, claimed the relative who took her son had threatened to harm himself in the past, and was very concerned about the safety of her son over the past week. She said while he was in generally good health, he had a few scratches and mosquito bites on his face from his time in the forest.

Ali said Umar had some trouble sleeping and did not have much of an appetite.

"He went to bed after 11 pm on Monday night and he got up very early, I don't even know when last he slept in a proper bed. Probably the same morning he was taken from us.

"He wasn't drinking his tea. This morning he didn't ask for any tea, which he usually does. I asked him what he wanted, and he said he wanted candy.

"His favourite food is fried chicken, but even when I got that for him he wasn't eating."

Ali advised other people who may be involved in troubled relationships to trust their instincts and take the necessary steps to protect themselves and their children who may also be involved.

"I'm very happy, but of course I would have been more happy if he wasn't taken from me in the first place.

"My advice is to go with your gut feeling, because I had known this would have happened."

Newsday also spoke to Ali's father Wazid Ali, who said he was happy his grandson was safe with the family.

Ali said he was concerned for his grandson's safety after the abduction, but was also angry with the person responsible. He called on people who may be facing difficulties with a friend or partner to take the advice of relatives seriously.

"Heed the advice of your parents. Trust in the Lord first and go forward.

"If he (the suspect) remains on the outside he is a threat to me, if he can come into my home and take up a child from a bed, disrespect me like that."

When Newsday visited, Ali was preparing a meal of paratha and curried goat.

Ali said he and the rest of the family were devout Muslims and prayed for Umar's safety.

He added that he took an aqiqah, a practice in Islam in which an animal is slaughtered in honour of the birth of a child and the meat distributed to family, friends and the less fortunate. In this case, Ali said the goat was slaughtered in honour of Umar's safe return.

Contacted for comment on Tuesday, child and family psychologist Maryam Ali said while she could not assess the extent of psychological support Umar and his mother would require, she felt it was needed sooner rather than later.

"There are certain things to look out for, like separation anxiety, nightmares, even things like bed-wetting, after a traumatic situation like this.

"You see separation anxiety in some cases where parents drop off children at school and they scream and cry.

"In some cases she may even have to be careful with people talking about the incident around him (Umar).

"But as the situation is still so fresh, they need to get some help – the sooner the better."

Police from the Eastern Division continued their search for the relative up to late on Tuesday afternoon.