They alleged that their daughters, Rinnie, 14, and Rhea, 11, were forcibly taken away by their aunt Sonia Rogers, an airhostess with an airline in Delhi, and they had been running from pillar to post to get them back. They are not even aware if their daughters were going to school, they said, fearing that the young girls may fall in a bad company.

“The last seven months gave been hellish for us. We do not know where our girls are. We visited the private airlines office at Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi, but in vain,” said a tearful Meenakshi.

Sonia, 32, is an unmarried sister of Sanjay and used to come to the city to meet her aged parents. Their father expired in May and when she went back to Delhi, she took the girls along without telling the parents. “I am not as well off as my sister. I organise air shows with radio-controlled toy planes and my wife is a teacher. We both were at work when she took away our daughters,” said Sanjay.

“To add to our woes, she has changed her address and even phone numbers. Last time when she had called, she had said that we should forget our children. How this is possible?” rued Meenakashi, who has left her job due to the agonies that befell her.

The couple said they had made complaints to the police, but no action was taken. Then, they met Deputy Commissioner KS Pannu, who has ordered the police to register an FIR. “The couple came to me and I have asked the SSP to register a case and look for the children. It is our duty to unite the children with their parents,” said Pannu.

SSP Kunwar Vijay Partap Singh was not available for comments but DSP, Civil Lines, Lakhbir Singh, said, “I know the case. I have already conducted a probe and am trying to be in contact with Sonia in Delhi directly and through the Delhi police. I will summon Sonia along with the two children and they will be asked where they wanted to stay.” He added that they were in the process of registering the case.

He also said that as it was a family matter, so after taking orders from SDM office, they would try to locate the children. The couple said the case of kidnapping and illegal confinement should be registered against Sonia.

Though Sonia Rogers was not available for comments, her close friend Preeti Kansal, a Ludhiana-based social activist, who had tried to mediate between the two sides, said she was looking after the children well. “See the sacrifice that Sonia has made for the children of her brother. She did not marry because of them. The parents cannot look after their children and Sanjay even has a criminal record,” said Kansal, adding that in her view, children should remain with Sonia.