Police have raided a den of professional beggars and safely recovered a child, who was kidnapped so that he can be physically disabled and forced to beg. The Roshni Helpline – an NGO working for child rights – had earlier drawn the attention of the authorities concerned including the police towards the kidnapping of children by professional beggars.
The Boat Basin police raided the den of professional beggars and recovered eight-year-old Muhammad Urs from their possession. The child was kidnapped from Shah Rasool Colony within the jurisdiction of the Boat Basin police station.
The police have arrested a man named Rameez Ghopang and started investigating the case.
FIR No 131/2011 has been lodged by the police and inspector Mobin is heading the investigation, which the Roshni Helpline believes might lead to more clues and recoveries.
“We have referred eight more cases of registered missing children, who, according to their age bracket (2-7 years), are more likely to be picked up by groups of professional beggars for their commercial exploitation including beggary and we hope there are more leads and recoveries,” said Roshni Helpline President Muhammad Ali.
“We have written to the investigation officer of the case that these cases should also be investigated in the context of the recent case. This will also give a broader view of the kidnapping of children by these groups in the city and their exploitation,” he added.
Ali said that the Roshni Helpline has informed the authorities concerned about the possibilities of these groups’ involvement in kidnapping and exploitation of children. “This is proven by a couple of cases of recovered children in the past and by the recent one. Also, our clients – the parents and guardians of the missing children – have expressed their suspicions about the involvement of these groups. We also believe these that these groups are behind the children’s abduction as there is no check on their movement in the city. There is no registration and documentation about them and it is easy for them to add or minus a few people to their families, especially children,” he said. “There should be some sort of check on the movement of such groups in the city.”
Ali requested the Sindh inspector general of police to enhance information-sharing on beggars between police stations.
He said the Roshni Helpline has planned a survey of these groups in collaboration with the Sindh Home Department that will start after Ramazan, because during this month, the influx of beggars from outside the city increases and they return to their hometowns soon after it ends.
“We have suggested to the Home Department to come up with some sort of permanent mechanism for keeping a track on these groups, and the consultant of the department, Sharfuddin Memon has assured us that he would cooperate with us on this issue,” he added.
