It is unbelievable that you have lodged a complaint with the police in the year 1997 and they have not taken any action on the complaint so far and you remained silent about it without any follow up for a period of almost 18 years.
There is a legal presumption that an individual is alive until proved dead. In attempting to determine whether a person has died after having been missing for a certain period of time, the law assumes that the person is alive until a reason exists to believe otherwise.
The common-law rule is that where evidence indicates that the absent person was subject to a particular peril, he or she will be legally presumed dead after seven years unless the dis-appearance can be otherwise explained. The seven-year interval may be shortened if the state decides to enact legislation to change it. Some states may permit the dissolution of a marriage or the administration of an estate based on a mysterious disappearance that endures for less than seven years.
A special problem emerges in a situation where a person disappears following a threat made on his or her life. Such an individual would have a valid reason for voluntarily leaving and concealing his or her identity. Conversely, however, the person would in fact be dead if the plot succeeded. A court would have to examine carefully the facts of a particular case of this nature.
The court will not hold that an individual has died without proof that an earnest search was made for him or her. During such a search, public records must be consulted, wherever the person might have resided, for information regarding marriage, death, payment of taxes, or application for government benefits. The investigation must also include questioning of the missing person's friends or relatives as to his or her whereabouts.
Legal death is a presumption by law that a person has died. It arises following a prolonged absence, generally for a prescribed number of years, during which no one has seen or heard from the person and there is no known reason for the person's disappearance that would be incompatible with a finding that the individual is dead (e.g., the individual had not planned to move to another place).
Procedure for declaration of death
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After receipt of an application for declaration of death, a court shall publish a notice in a national daily newspaper calling on all persons to provide information concerning the person whose declaration of death is applied for.
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A court shall not declare a person dead if within six months after publication of the notice information is received which proves that the person is alive.
In your case, if there is no person who will oppose to this declaration suit, the defendant will be "NIL".
It is advisable to take the help of a local advocate to follow the legal procedures to file the suit.