'WHERE IS MY BABY GIRL?'

The father of three-year-old Chandanie Phang You, of Balmain, Couva, was not able to celebrate Father’s Day with his only child as she cannot be found, he told Newsday yesterday. No one wants to tell him the whereabouts of his daughter.

For the last four months Phang You has not seen little Chandanie although by order of the court he is supposed to see her every Saturday from 9 am to 5 pm.

“They keep hiding her from me,” the builder cried.

“I am her father and I love my daughter and they keep hurting me. Why, why are they doing that to me? All I want is to see her.”

As a sign of his love, Phang You tattooed his daughter’s picture on his right forearm.

According to Phang You, the son of Pastor Maurice Phang You of the Church of the Rock, Morvant, all he wants is to spend some time with Chandanie.

He told Newsday, “My father knows my pain and yesterday (Saturday) he went to the address given to the court at Sisters Road, Hardbargain hoping he could help me, but they told him they haven’t seen the mother or the child in a month.”

Phang You does not believe members of the family.

Eighteen months ago, he said, he and his daughter’s mother Seema Ramgobin, 21, went their separate ways after sharing a stormy common-law relationship for three years. With Chandanie caught in the middle, the couple went before a magistrate in the Couva Court in January to settle issues over the toddler.

He continued, “The magistrate granted me custody only on Saturdays and I accepted. I was happy because at least I could spend some time with her. It only lasted for one month.”

In January, he said he saw her four times.

He went on, “Problems began in February. I couldn’t find my daughter. I went to Sisters Road, and her relatives said they did not know her whereabouts.”

Phang You said he heard his daughter was staying with her mother somewhere in the area and he went in search of her.

He explained, “I found the place and I saw infant clothing and I recognised the toys that I bought for my daughter lying about. I kept calling but no one came out.”

Phang You said he informed the Gasparillo Police Station about the matter.

He said, “When they eventually came, do you know that they rough me up instead as if I was doing something wrong.”

It was not the first time police officers reacted that way when he sought their intervention, Phang You said. “I don’t get any help from them, I am treated as the bad one.”

Phang You further said he doesn’t want to return to the court as he has been threatened with a protection order which he fears might make the situation worse.

“My father wants to see his grandchild, my siblings want to see their niece but we are not allowed to do so. I am confused at this point in time”

He said he laminated pictures of his daughter as a gift to himself for Father’s Day.

At his home, he said, his daughter’s fully furnished room remains empty.

“She is all I have and everything I have is hers. Her baby bed, toys clothes still there. Why are they doing this to me?” pleaded Phang You.

He said he and his family have been praying that good sense prevails in the matter.

“I called the Family Crisis hotline but they said the person to talk to me was not available. I don’t know who to turn to for help. Today should be a happy day for me and here I am worried about my daughter,” he said.

An officer at Gasparillo Police Station told Newsday they are aware of the situation and it is a matter to be dealt with by the court.