BOPHELONG. – It became a ‘black’ Christmas for Matsoso’s family when their mentally ill and deaf-and-mute daughter Eva Matsoso went missing in Muvhango on Christmas Day.
It is alleged that Eva (24) had deeply loved her late grandmother, Khali Mahloko. Ever since her death she has not been herself. Puleng Matsoso, her mother, says that on Christmas Day, Eva was looking for her grandmother all over the house.
She was so upset that she went to her grandmother’s room and threw tantrums. “We tried to calm her down but she wanted her grandmother.
“ She left and then came back. But then she left again without anyone noticing and she never came back. She vanished from right under our noses,” says Puleng.
The family claims to have searched for her everywhere – hospitals, mortuaries, family members. When she was asked if Eva was in the habit of disappearing, Puleng agreed that this was the case, but she never went far, just around the area. She had a few friends but due to her condition it was not easy for her to connect with other people. The family is concerned about Eva since she’s deaf, mute and mentally challenged.
Puleng says they use sign language to communicate with her, so if anyone has found her she would not be able to tell them where she is from. “We had a black and bad Christmas. We cannot sleep.” When asked if they opened a case with police, Puleng says that Police did not want to help them and too much time has passed now.
Vanderbijlpark Police has not responded to the allegations that they were unwilling to help the family.
