The cases of child abduction are on the rise in and a wave of kidnappings has swept all over the country especially in the Punjab Province. You! takes a look...
The cases of child abduction are on the rise in and a wave of kidnappings has swept all over the country especially in the Punjab Province. You! takes a look...
Three-year-old Jannat Hayyat wept as her family made plans to head to Anarkali market in Lahore without her. She cried and begged her mother to take her along and was able to convince her. Jannat smiled as her mother wiped her tears, feeling glad that she would be able to spend more time with her family. Little did she know that this would be the last time she would ever be near her mother. Since it was a Sunday, the Anarkali market was bustling with people and it took only a few minutes before Jannat disappeared. Jannat's family searched for her all over the bazaar but their efforts went in vain. Their last hope was the Anarkali Police station where they lodged an FIR for kidnapping. However, the police refused to accept it as a kidnapping case and insisted that Jannat must have wandered off and landed at a relative's place instead. After a lot of argument, the FIR was eventually registered but it was too late.
This particular case is just one amongst many others, as a wave of kidnappings has swept over Punjab. There have been incidents where children have been kidnapped outside their school premises. Statistics show that in the last six years, there have been 6793 child abductions and around 800 children have been kidnapped in Lahore, the capital city of Punjab. And due to this current rise in kidnapping parents are scared to allow their children to step out of the house alone.
"I do not allow my child to play on the streets anymore because of the group of kidnappers that are active in Lahore. Everyday there is news regarding abduction of children on TV and this has become a routine. Of course we don't feel safe anymore," shares Mrs. Tasleem, resident of Gulshan Ravi, Punjab.
Like Tasleem, many mothers are even scared to send their children to school without any supervision and are concerned about their safety. "I worry when my children Hira and Usman go to school and tuition centres. At times when my children get late while coming back, I just lose my mind and contact their teacher again and again till my children reach home safely," says Maimoona, mother of Hira and Usman.
Even though awareness is being spread regarding these incidents, there are still no signs of curtailing the crimes. To put a stop to these incidences, acting chief Justice Supreme Court of Pakistan Justice Saqib Nisar took suo motu notice recently and ordered Inspector General Punjab (IGP) to submit a report over rampant kidnapping of 600 children from the province of Punjab and more than 300 from Lahore alone. "It has been highlighted that such kidnapping are scored with the nefarious object of extracting vital body organs of the abductees whereas, another ascription is for sexual abuse and/or beggary etc. That being said, such a large scale abduction of children in such a short span of time is a matter of immense concern and the situation is quite alarming," states the Chief Justice.
"The current circumstances are a violation of the fundamental rights especially of life, liberty, safety and free movement. Nonetheless, after the sou motu notice taken by the Supreme Court of Pakistan, it is expected that the conditions of safety will improve," he adds.
On the other hand, the view of the police is completely different regarding this matter and according to them, most of the children have safely been returned to their families.
"According to the report prepared by the Punjab police after the sou motu notice, 767 children have been reported missing this year and 722 out of 767 children have already been recovered. The report also shows that 1134 children had gone missing in 2015 while 1093 were recovered. In 2014, 1206 children went missing and police took quick action to recover 1185 children of those children," informs Haider Ashraf, Deputy Inspector General (DIG), Lahore.
On the flip side, the court is not at all convinced by the report and a delegation of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) has met with the Inspector General (IG), Punjab for further security measures. The IG also refused to accept child kidnapping as an ongoing issue that requires serious attention.
According to Mushtaq Sukhera, IG, Punjab, "The issue regarding kidnapping of children has been exaggerated by the media and the reality is that most of the missing children run away from their houses because of the harsh attitude of their parents or due to the burden of studies. This is why Punjab police has recovered many of them from railways station, shrines and bus stops, while many more children have been found at child protection centres."
Furthermore, Mushtaq Sukhera has also denied claims of a kidnapping racket and says, "Only two per cent of the missing children have been kidnapped for real, otherwise the media is just creating hype."
However, people are still not convinced by the explanation given by Sukhera and a cloud of fear still hangs over Punjab. Moreover, panic took over when the media broke the news from Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) that the police had arrested the wife of retired Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Anwar Pari, over involvement of kidnapping children. Also, the wife of the serving Station House Officer (SHO) was found to be involved in children abduction and trafficking. Further investigation revealed that the gangs consisted of nine members.
Al though, these issues have been brought to light, the wave of kidnapping is only trickling down to other provinces instead of deteriorating.
Recently in Karachi, many cases of children being abducted have been reported. Roma, a nine-year-old girl had been kidnapped when she was playing on the streets of Machhar colony. The FIR was registered and after 15 days the police recovered her body. It is clear now that the abduction of children will continue until IG Punjab, IG Sindh, CM Punjab and CM Sindh take the matters seriously. An official notice has been issued by the Citizen Police Liaison Committee (CPLC) in the wake of children abduction in Sindh. CPLC has claimed that children abduction are just rumours and that the existing official data does not support the claims of kidnappings and missing children. Maula Bux Chandi, Sindh Chief Minister Advisor for Information and Archives, has also endorsed the statement issued by CPLC that none of the children have been abducted in Sindh.
The question is, would these higher officials release the same statements if a minister's child was kidnapped; would the kidnapping racket still be a 'rumour'? It is truly unfortunate that children are being snatched away from their families and yet no measure is being taken to curb this menace. If our government and authorities will turn a blind eye to such activities, where should the public go to seek help? Sadly, it is only the common people who continue to suffer and all one can do now is make sure their children are never left alone.
