Karachi minor returns after missing for a day

KARACHI: A 10-year-old boy who went missing on Friday in Karachi’s Saddar area returned home on Saturday morning. The family, who had been protesting against the disappearance, informed of his return.

According to reports, an unknown man lured the minor into going with him on Friday by offering him to buy candy. Saddar Superintendent Police (SP) Tauqeer Mohammed Naeem said that the minor boy had gone to study at a seminary in the area around 11 am and did not return after that.

The boy’s family told media outlets that an unknown person had dropped the child home around fajar time and had left immediately without talking to anyone from the household. They added that the boy had no signs of torture on his body and was in good health.

A case against the child’s abduction was registered by the parents on Friday night in the Aram Bagh Police Station. However, police say that they can only classify the disappearance as kidnapping once they record the child’s statement and conduct a medical examination on him.

On Friday night, residents of Burns Road, a street popularly known as Karachi’s food street, took to the street in large numbers to protest the child’s disappearance. They blocked the road and resorted to burning tyres, causing suspension of traffic and forceful closure of eateries in the neighbourhood, police said.

Contingents of police and Rangers were rushed to the site to control the situation and prevent it from deteriorating further. They tried to assure residents of the area that efforts were being made to find the child.

Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan leader Kamran Tessori and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf representative Khurram Sherzaman had arrived at the spot and expressed their support to the family and relatives of the missing.

Tessori had said that the rulers should take strict measures against crimes against minors.

“We have taken CCTV footage of some sites and we are reviewing it,” he said.

The protestors had dispersed after police filed FIR of the case.

Sindh Inspector General of Police A.D Khawaja directed Deputy Inspector General (South) to provide a detailed report on the progress of the case, a press release said.

The latest incident comes in the wake of widespread outrage and demonstrations across the country protesting against the rape and murder of 6-year-old Zainab Amin in Kasur, whose body was recovered from a trash heap in the city earlier this week.