n a typical setting, a police chowki would strike fear in your heart. But this particular chowki, located at the Punjab Employees’ Cooperative Housing Society, is a colourful place, with nice artwork on the walls and a homely vibe.

This three-room police-chowki-turned-foster-home is called Tahaffuz Manzil. It is home to the homeless and runaway children as well as troubled women who have been victims of sexual harassment or domestic violence.

Currently, the facility has six children and an adult woman in the care of a staff of four, led by Maida Raza Butt who looks after the operations. “The foster home came into being very recently, barely three months ago,” says Butt, adding that the need for Tahaffuz Manzil was felt by the police who have previously created protection centres for the transgender community also.

Listening to the stories of the residents, you can’t hold back tears. Take the example of the three siblings — two sisters and a brother — who are originally from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. They have spent the past five years of their lives in shelter houses. Recently, they were transferred from a foster home in Model Town to Tahaffuz Manzil. “The eldest of the siblings is now 14; she is a very sensitive girl,” Butt tells TNS.

“The kids come from a broken home in the Mansehra district of the Hazara region. Their father is in jail. Their mother, after getting divorce, married a man who already had three children from a previous marriage. She could not keep her children with her, and had to let them go.”

Initially, the children stayed with their grandmother where they were at the mercy of her daughter-in-law who wasn’t kind to them. That, coupled with the lack of resources to feed a large family, forced the children to leave the place.

The story of 8-year-old Abdullah is no less unfortunate. The little boy is an orphan. He was taken into police custody from Data Darbar early this year. The child can’t seem to know the name of the place he comes from, but he will tell you how uncle would beat him up. Eventually, he was ejected out of the house.

“While the Mansehra siblings may return to their family one day, Abdullah is likely to stay here until he is an adult, a skilled man and an earning hand,” says Butt. She adds that the shelter is temporary for some and permanent for others. “Our first priority is to reunite people with their loved ones. We’ve been successful with two children who were returned to their families. Besides, a young woman and her two children reunited with their folks in Rajanpur.”

Tahaffuz Manzil consists of three rooms — a bedroom, a kitchen and a classroom-cum-computer lab. There’s also a dedicated play area for minors. The day before Eid, the whole bunch had planned an iftar dinner at a local hotel. They also went around in the city, partaking in Chand Raat festivities.

Whether a resident is permanent or temporary, they are provided with counselling, homeschooling and skill development courses.

According to Butt, out of the seven residents of Tahaffuz Manzil, only two could be called literate. Others lack the basic literacy skills. “So, first, we focus on teaching them basic literacy skills through homeschooling. Later, when they are ready for mainstream schools, we will enroll them. We will enroll them in a good quality school,” she says.

The residents have a set routine: they wake up at 10 in the morning, have breakfast and then study until 2 pm. After lunch, they have computer classes. Later in the day, they are taken to a family park close by, where they interact with the children from the locality. Before sunset, they are back at the facility. They have dinner and then retire to bed.

Tahaffuz Manzil consists of three rooms — a bedroom, a kitchen and a classroom-cum-computer lab. There’s also a dedicated play area for minors. The day before Eid, the whole bunch had planned an iftar dinner at a local hotel. They also went around in the city, partaking in Chand Raat festivities.

When asked as to how the facility manages its expenses, Butt says that each child and/ or adult is “sponsored by philanthropists who donate Rs 20,000 per person.”

Tahaffuz Manzil is the brainchild of ASP Shehrbano Naqvi. “We badly needed a place where victims of domestic abuse and homeless and orphaned children could be accommodated and rehabilitated,” she says.

The facility, which was opened in January this year, is a collaborative effort between the police force and some private welfare organisations. Joint initiatives have been planned to ensure the education of the children residing in Tahaffuz Manzil and to provide vocational training to women residents.

A Punjab Police spokesperson says efforts to enhance social security measures will be intensified with the cooperation of other private organisations. He also talks of Tahaffuz Manzil accommodating children referred from police stations and other protection centres across the Punjab.

The writer is a media veteran interested in politics, consumer rights and entrepreneurship