Without a trace!

Malaika Arora Khan's maid goes missing in London. The actress is told that it is a common occurence in the city and that cops can't do much!

Arbaaz Khan and Malaika Arora's London holiday turned out to be a nightmare when their nanny, who has worked for them for one year,u00a0 vanished halfway through their vacation.u00a0

Arbaaz has blogged about his horrible experience: "My wife and son got back from London today." The actor had returned earlier because of a film commitment.



Faith shattered

Arbaaz recounts the nightmare, "Arhaan's nanny Jackin Fernandes who hails from Belgaum in Karnataka, had gone for the trip with us. We'd employed her through an agency. She worked efficiently and patiently with our son. Jackin has travelled with us to a number of places including Dubai and Singapore. This time, we took her along with us to London too. We began to trust her completely, only for her to shatter all our faith and trust in her."

Arbaaz reveals that two days before Malaika was to return, Jackin was with the kids in a nearby park, when she left for the apartment on the pretext of getting a jacket for Arhaan, "She didn't return though Malaika kept calling her phone. When Malaika went to the apartment, Jackin's phone was lying on the ground and she was nowhere in sight.

Malaika panicked. She noticed that the nanny's suitcase was also missing, as was her passport which had been safely in another bag under lock and key. It soon became evident that Jackin had left. Though Malaika and I are upset with what happened we still wish her well and hope she's safe and happy wherever she is."

A traumatized Malaika Arora Khan adds, "I am shocked and saddened by what happened. I had to cut my trip shorter. Normally I travel with a maid only if I trust her and am comfortable with her. She's a part of the family and we take care of her every need. But I realised today that it's the money that's important. But short of tying them down and locking them in, which we can't do, how do we prevent this from happening again?"

Rampant problem

Malaika was more concerned for six-year old Arhaan who kept asking about Jackin. "In his head, he somehow blamed himself till we had to explain to him why she did it. When I lodged a complaint with the Metropolitan Police they told me Indian maids coming to London and running away in search of better opportunities was a common occurrence.

Saif's and Karisma's maids had also disappeared like this and Juhi's maid who had been with them for eight years too just disappeared one day. Each of these maids left without a trace. It obviously seems to be modus operandi of these people to use the opportunity to have a better life in a foreign country. Unfortunately, the illegal immigrant situation is very rampant in London. The police also can't do much. They told us if they find us they would deport her."

Malaika says Jackin didn't take any money or valuables with her when she left, except her own passport. "Jackin had access to the safe where everything was kept so if she wanted to she could have taken our money and jewellery but she didn't take anything except her passport. I don't hold anything against her as she was wonderful with my child and Arhaan was very fond of her. Currently, I am still maidless. It's such a pain to trust someone, train then and then something like this happens."