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Godrej almirah stands in the corner of a 10x10 square-foot room in a Mumbai chawl. Wedged into its edges are two photographs: a fading passport-size picture of a man and one of a newly-wedded couple, keepsakes of a life interrupted.
Rafiq Mehboob Tamboli, 35 year old in 2021, sold kaanda-batata (onions and potatoes) from a cart, and would occasionally drive a tempo for a meat dealer. On June 4, 2021, Rafiq left home at 10:30 a.m. to make a delivery in Pune, about 150 km away. He was to return at dawn the following day.
It has been over four years since that day. His wife, Reshma, 33, and their two children, now 13 and 11, still hope he will return. “That night at 9.30, he said he’d started back for Mumbai,” Reshma says, recalling her last call with him. She turns to the photos: “They are wearing out.”
Tempo driver missing since 2021, wife moves Bombay High Court alleging mob lynching by cow vigilantes
