Three young girls, trying to escape to South Africa in the guise of boys, were taken into protective custody by Lahore police at the city’s main Railway Station on Tuesday.
All three girls were Grade 7 students from Dera Ghazi Khan.
The police said they were carrying a mobile phone with the password ‘My Love My Dream’.
Upon checking the phone’s data, the police could not find any evidence of outside involvement.
After recording their statements, the police contacted the Dera Ghaz Khan police, where their parents had registered a missing persons report and the police was searching for them.
Subsequently, the parents arrived in Lahore and took their daughters back home.
The girls’ plan
The girls had an unrealistic and immature plan, influenced by social media, according to the police.
The investigation suggests that they first managed to escape to Lahore via bus. Their plan was to cross the Wagah border and enter India on foot. From there they planned to make their way to South Africa and pursue a glamourous life.
Dawn reports that “the police on duty at Lahore station took these girls into custody, who had travelled alone from DG Khan by a bus. The girls left their homes in search of a glamorous lifestyle.”
The girls impersonated boy by wearing their brothers’ clothes and cutting their hair short to appear male.
The police found out that the girls were carrying two pairs of scissors, maps of India, South Africa, a few clothes, and only Rs100 when the police found them.
A male passenger offered to take them to Karachi, but before they could decide, the police came in to intervene.
In their statements to the police, the girls also revealed their naive intentions to travel to South Africa.
An FIR regarding their disappearance had already been registered in their hometown, Dera Ghazi Khan.
They were found at the railway station platform by constable Shah Nawaz, who handed them over to the lady constables to protect them from any danger, including human traffickers.
However, the police urged parents to always monitor their children’s activities to protect them.
