'My Pain…': A Mother's Desperate Search for Son Missing in Finland for 2 Months

The 18-year-old student from Hyderabad had gone to Finland in August last year to pursue a BTech course.

Manideep Reddy went missing in Finland's Helsinki on 5 May this year and hasn't been seen since. 

(Photo: Vibhushita Singh/The Quint) 

"As a parent, don't I have the right to question the authorities? Whenever I call the Finnish Police, they ask me to write a mail with my query. What if someone doesn't know how to write a mail? And even if I send them a mail, will anybody be able to understand my anger? Will they be able to gauge my tone and my pain?"

This was the heartfelt plea of Mamta Reddy, a distraught mother from Hyderabad who spoke to The Quint about the emotional upheaval she has been facing following the disappearance of her son Manideep in Finland in May this year.

The 18-year-old had gone to Finland in August last year to pursue a BTech course from the University of Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology (LUT) in Lahti city.

Manideep Reddy.

(Photo Courtesy: Instagram)

A quiet child, his parents say, he would mostly keep to himself and refrain from spending money beyond what was necessary. The first time he asked his parents for some extra money was on 5 May. The reason, he said, was that he wanted to treat his friends at a restaurant. That was the day he disappeared, with his phone switched off, and hasn't been seen since.

Manideep's parents allege that over the last two months, the Finnish Police and the Indian Embassy in Helsinki haven't been doing enough to locate their son despite their constant appeals.

'No Indication of Crime': Finnish Police

On 5 May, Manideep had asked his parents for Rs 5,000 above his pocket money. They were under the impression that he would treat his friends in Lahti, where his university is located and where he had been staying in a hostel accommodation for the last nine months.

Mysteriously, though, CCTV cameras confirmed that Manideep's last known location was a shopping mall in the Finnish capital Helsinki, around 100 kilometres away from Lahti.

Manideep was last seen at a mall in Helsinki, CCTV footage confirms. 

(Photo: Accessed by The Quint) 

The investigation into Manideep's disappearance was transferred on 22 June from the Helsinki Police to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI). Olli Toyras, Detective Superintendent at the NBI and investigation lead of the case, told The Quint that they have been undertaking several efforts to find the missing student.

"During this week, the police have carried out several field operations in the area of his last known location, among other actions," Toyras said, adding, "At this moment there is no indication or information about crime. Police are still investigating a missing person's case."

He further said that the police had met and spoken to several people who might have information about Manideep, including his roommate. However, he refused to divulge any names.

The Quint also spoke to an official at the Indian Embassy in Finland who claimed to be in constant touch with the police as well as Manideep's family.

"On 10 May, the mission first received an email from Manideep's cousin and later from his parents," said Raju Kumar, attache for consular affairs at the Indian Embassy in Helsinki. "Since then, the Mission has remained in regular contact with Manideep's family members and relatives through emails and telephone calls."

Kumar says that the embassy has also appointed a nodal officer who has been regularly liaising with Manideep's family and Finnish authorities.

"Following the Mission's sustained engagement with the Finnish authorities, continuous follow-up, and persistent efforts through the International Affairs Division of the Helsinki Police Department, the case was escalated and formally transferred to the NBI on 22 June," he told The Quint.

Juxtaposed to the assurances provided by the police and the Indian Embassy, however, Manideep's parents tell a very different story of their experiences with the authorities.

'Begged And Pleaded Repeatedly... What More Can I Do?' 

Manideep's mother Mamta says that she has been calling the Indian Embassy in Finland almost every day for updates regarding her son. However, she claims that officials "don't seem interested" in helping her with the case at all.

"I haven't heard anything about my son. Nobody is helping me. I have been pleading for the last two months. I keep calling the Embassy to ask them if there's any update. Half the time they don't pick up my phone. And when they do, they say they will call back at the soonest and then never do. I am tired of calling them every single day," she told The Quint.

Since Manideep's disappearance, his family has tried several avenues to escalate the case, including by sending appeals to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, and MLA KT Rama Rao. While Rao met Manideep's parents and urged the Ministry of External Affairs to intervene in the matter, the others have not acknowledged the family's letters of appeal.

Further, the family has also approached the Telangana High Court. In their petition, they have sought details from the Centre, the Indian Embassy in Finland, and the state police to detail the exact steps being taken to locate the missing student. The hearing of the case was scheduled to take place on 24 June but was postponed.

Manideep's mother Mamta claims that the hearing was postponed on the request of the respondents because they have "no information to share".

She further states that she had applied for a Finnish visa for herself and her husband so that they can travel there and search for their son, but the Finnish authorities rejected their applications.

"I have appealed to so many senior officials for help. I have begged and pleaded with the Embassy and with everybody who has even the slightest involvement in the case. What more should I do? Should I go and sit outside the prime minister's office?"

Mamta Reddy, Manideep's mother

Mamta says that she has also been calling the Helsinki Police and the NBI for updates, but her appeals are constantly met with the same response.

"The officer on the other line keeps saying, 'Madam, we don't have any update for you.' How is it possible that they don't have any information for the last two months? Is my son a one-year-old child that he can just get lost? Neither the Finnish authorities nor the Indian authorities have any decency or intelligence. They don't understand the smallest of things," she claims.

When The Quint questioned Detective Inspector Olli Toyras about the family's allegations about the lack of information flow, he refuted them, saying:

"The parents’ criticism that they have not received any information from the police is not true. The NBI has been in charge of this missing person case since 22 June, and since then I have personally sent the parents several emails, including information about the case and police activities."

Olli Toyras, Detective Inspector, National Bureau of Investigation (Finland)

'How Can My Son Survive Without Food?'

When Manideep's disappearance had initially come to light, Mamta says the Finnish Police had suspected that he may have deliberately gone into hiding. However, two months on, she says the likelihood of that is highly improbable.

The reason is that there has been no transaction on his credit card since he went missing on 5 May. If he has truly gone into hiding, the parents ask, how is he surviving without purchasing food?

"Even if someone goes into hiding, they still need to eat. How is he getting food without money?" asks Manideep's father G Muthyam Reddy.

The family further says that the decision to go into hiding doesn't make sense because it doesn't align with their son's nature.

"He's an innocent boy. He doesn't speak to too many people... just does his work, comes back home and sleeps. He cooks his own food and never eats outside just to save money," Mamta told The Quint.

When her son had initially moved to Lahti, Mamta says, she used to urge him repeatedly to go out and explore the new city and try different things. But he would always refuse, saying that he would explore once his course were over and it was time to leave the country. His intention, Mamta says, was always to save money so as not to put financial pressure on his parents.

"Do you think that such a child, who would not explore a new city just because it would mean asking us for more money, can go into hiding and intentionally cause us so much pain? Mani could never do something like this," Mamta says, breaking down while taking her son's name.

Manideep hadn't come back since he left for Finland in August 2025 and was supposed to come home for a short break in late-May this year. Mamta says that they used to talk every other day, but she didn't notice anything unusual about her son's behaviour before he disappeared, nor at any other time during his stay in Finland.

"We spoke so often, but he never complained about a lack of money, academic pressure, racism or any other matter," she says.

But the lack of headway in the case has frustrated her beyond measure. With tears in her eyes and anger in her voice, she consistently keeps raising the same allegation:

"They say Finland is a safe country. They say they have a zero crime rate. Where is the safety? What zero crime are they talking about? They are suppressing crime, and that's why it's not publicised. Helsinki is a small city with a population of 7 lakh. Why can't they find my boy among such a small population?"

Apart from the police investigation into Manideep's disappearance, the Indian diaspora and volunteer groups have also been doing their part to help find him. Several Finland-based Indian diaspora groups have been publicising news of Manideep's disappearance and asking people with information to come forward.

An Instagram post shared by 'IndianWomeninFinland' asking people to come forward with information about Manideep.

(Photo Courtesy: Instagram) 

On 26 June, a volunteer team specialising in underwater searches launched their own search in Kruunuvuorenranta, a maritime district in Helsinki. While the search had to be called off after around one and a half hours due to strong winds, the group's members told local media that efforts would continue in the days to come.