Tag: abduction

  • The Minor’s father files new petition in Sindh High Court for recovery of his daughter

    The Minor’s father files new petition in Sindh High Court for recovery of his daughter

    Minor Girl father Mehdi Kazmi has filed a new case in the Sindh High Court for the recovery of his daughter. He has alleged that Zaheer Ahmed had kidnapped his daughter.

    The petition submitted by The Minor’s father stated that his daughter was 13 years, 11 months, and 19 days old when she was kidnapped by Zaheer Ahmed.

    It also stated that all NADRA documents, educational certificates, passports, and birth certificates are available as evidence.

    The petition asserts that her marriage with Zaheer is a violation of the 2016 Punjab Restoration Marriage Act. According to a new report by a six-member medical board, which established the adolescent’s age to be between 15 and 16. The petition sought The Minor’s recovery.

    Previously, The Minor’s age had been established by a medical board to be between 16 and 17, but the findings of the board had been challenged on a technicality.

  • Another teenage girl in Karachi goes missing

    Another teenage girl in Karachi goes missing

    A week after a minor from Karachi went missing, another girl same as her age, 14-year-old Nimra Kazmi went missing on April 20th from the same area, i.e. Karachi’s Malir district.

    Nimra’s mother said that she left her home at 9am to go to work, but her daughter was not at home when she returned. Despite thoroughly searching for her, she was nowhere to be found.

    According to her mother, Nimra was a grade-10 student and was preparing for her final exams. She appealed to Chief Minister Sindh Murad Ali Shah and the Inspector-General of Sindh for the recovery of her teenage daughter.

    As per the police, a case has been registered and a search is underway.

    It is pertinent to mention that Zehra’s whereabouts are still unknown. According to the police, they are putting in all their efforts.

  • Four missing girls ‘escape abduction from prostitute dealers’

    Four missing girls ‘escape abduction from prostitute dealers’

    Sahiwal police have rescued four girls that went missing from the Hanjarwal area of Lahore six days ago.

    SHO of Ghalla Mandi Sahiwal police station, Imdad Khan confirmed to the BBC that the four abducted girls had been rescued and handed over to Lahore police, where further investigation into the case would continue.

    DETAILS OF THE ABDUCTION

    On July 30, four girls from Nambardaranwala Chowk in Hanjarwal left their house after getting ‘disappointed with the domestic circumstances’. At around midnight, a rickshaw driver dropped the four girls on the main road near the EME Society and no trace of them was found since then.

    An official involved in the investigation said that the police had detained the rickshaw driver and a neighbour of the girls for an inquiry as the neighbour was with the girls till 11 pm. However, he later left the girls in Hanjarwal and went home.

    Two days after the girls went missing, the girls’ father filed a petition against their alleged abduction at the Hanjarwal police station.

    He stated that apart from his two daughters, two of his neighbour’s daughters had left home to travel on the Orange train but never returned. He searched for the girls but could not find them. The father suspected that the girls had been abducted.

    RESCUE EFFORTS

    After the complaint, various police teams were formed to rescue the girls. According to investigators, they rescued the girls after one of the girls switched on her mobile phone.

    SHO Khan told the BBC that according to the initial investigation, the girls were picked up by a rickshaw driver from EME society and when he got to know that the girls had left their house, he provoked them and took them to his house.

    According to the SHO, the accused rickshaw driver contacted a friend and the two planned to take the girls to their hometown of Sahiwal for sale at a brothel.

    The accused kept the four girls in Lahore for two days, Saturday and Sunday, then took them to Sahiwal in a car.

    Imdad Khan further said that Sahiwal police had been conducting raids on brothels for the past several days. On August 2, during a raid, they arrested a person involved in this case who was later released on bail. The police, however, had no information about his involvement in this case.

    The person involved left the girls at a deserted place immediately after being released on bail, fearing that the police might have reached their area in search of these girls.

    The suspects kept the four girls in the Farid Town area of ​​Sahiwal while their wives assisted them there.

    “We received a call on the ’15’ informing us of four minor girls,” SHO said. We immediately rushed to the spot and took the girls into our custody and then later as a result of talking to them, we found out that these girls have reached here from Lahore and Lahore police were also looking for them.”

    All the accused, including two women, are now in police custody and an investigation is underway.

    THE CASE

    Responding to a question, SHO said that Lahore police had registered a case under section 363 of the Pakistan Penal Code, which could carry the death penalty.

    The SHO claimed that the conversations with the girls made it clear that none of them had been sexually assaulted in any way, but Lahore police will still conduct medical tests to meet legal requirements.

    The police officer said that the girls have refused to return to their homes due to fear. After their statement in the court, it will be decided whether they will be sent to their homes or a Darulaman.

    FURTHER DETAILS

    Mohammad Qamar, the investigating officer in the case, said that not all the cameras of Safe City were fully operational in the area around Multan Road where the metro train track had passed, which made it difficult for them to find the girls.

  • 300 CCTV camera data collected, abduction not confirmed: IG Islamabad

    300 CCTV camera data collected, abduction not confirmed: IG Islamabad

    Inspector-General (IG) Islamabad Qazi Jameel-ur-Rehman, during a press conference on Monday in Islamabad, said that the police have formed five teams to probe the “abduction” of the Afghan ambassador’s daughter.

    “We traced the entire route on which the daughter of the Afghan ambassador travelled and also traced both the taxi drivers who drove her,” he said. “Before going to the city’s F-9 Park, the ambassador’s daughter first went to the F-6 area,” added IG Islamabad.

    He said the purported abduction of the Afghan envoy’s daughter was a complete “blind case” and they collected data of around 300 CCTV cameras installed in Islamabad and Rawalpindi.

    As per police investigation, her abduction has not been proven yet, he maintained.

    Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, said, “Pakistan wants to arrest and punish the culprits involved in alleged kidnapping as soon as possible.”

    The foreign minister further added, “I told the Afghan ambassador that we are aware of the security concerns he is having, therefore, we have beefed up all Afghan diplomats’ security.”

    National Security Adviser Dr Moeed Yusuf said on Monday that Pakistan was currently a target of “hybrid warfare” and an entire network of information warfare was being used against the country.

    He said fake accounts and bots were being used to create a “narrative” against Pakistan, including regarding the incident involving the Afghan envoy’s daughter.

    Sharing slides on data gathered by the government, Yusuf said hashtags were being trended on a daily basis to create false impressions including that Pakistan “is doing something [wrong] in Afghanistan” and that the security situation in Pakistan was poor.

    “This is part of an orchestrated campaign of which various fronts have been opened against Pakistan,” he said, adding that the same accounts that did “fake propaganda” regarding Balochistan or Kashmir were also doing propaganda ever since the alleged abduction incident took place. According to Yusuf, some of these accounts were operated from inside Pakistan, while the rest were controlled from Afghanistan, India, and the West.

    FM Qureshi said that he spoke to his Afghan counterpart this morning and discussed the steps that the Government of Pakistan has so far taken to investigate the matter. 

    “We have assured the Afghan government that Prime Minister Imran Khan is personally overseeing the probe into the alleged abduction of the Afghan ambassador’s daughter,” he said. 

    Qureshi reiterated that the Afghanistan government should reconsider its decision to pull out its ambassador and diplomats from Pakistan, adding that if they want the investigation to be transparent, it will have to cooperate with Pakistan. 

    “We don’t have any intention to hide anything… we need their [Afghanistan’s] cooperation to take the investigation to its logical conclusion,” he added.

    Earlier today, Foreign Minister Qureshi informed his Afghan counterpart Mohammad Haneef Atmar that the security of the Afghan embassy and consulate in Pakistan had been further enhanced.

    The development comes a day after the Afghanistan government decided to withdraw its ambassador and senior diplomats from Pakistan, a move that Islamabad termed as “unfortunate and regrettable”.

  • Afghan Ambassador’s daughter released after being held hostage in Islamabad: Afghan Foreign Ministry

    Afghan Ambassador’s daughter released after being held hostage in Islamabad: Afghan Foreign Ministry

    The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan released a statement stating: “On July 16, the daughter of the Afghan Ambassador to Islamabad, Ms Silsila Alikhil, was ‘abducted’ for several hours and ‘severely tortured’ by unknown individuals on her way home.”

    After being released from being held hostage, the Ambassador’s daughter was taken to the hospital.

    “The [Afghan] Ministry of Foreign Affairs calls on the Government of Pakistan to take immediate necessary actions to ensure full security of the Afghan Embassy and Consulates as well as the immunity of the country’s diplomats and their families in accordance with international treaties and conventions,” read the statement.

    Responding to media queries in this regard, the Spokesperson of Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that the daughter of the Afghan ambassador was “assaulted while riding a rented vehicle”.

    According to the statement, the Islamabad Police launched a thorough investigation while the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and relevant security authorities are closely in contact with the ambassador and his family. The Afghan Ambassador’s security has been beefed up. “It is reiterated that the safety and security of the diplomatic missions, as well as the diplomats and their families, is of utmost importance. Such incidents can and will not be tolerated,” says the statement by the Foreign Ministry.

    According to the medical report tweeted by journalist Ghulam Abbas Shah, the police brought in Ms Silsila. There were rope marks on her wrist and ankle.

    Journalist Mubashir Zaidi tweeted, “She [Silsila Alikhil] was thrown after 5 hours with her hands & feet tied. A tissue paper & rupees 50 note with the message ‘your turn is next’ and ‘communist’ tied to her dupatta.”

    Journalist Salman Masood tweeted that senior Pakistani officials are dismissing the claims of the Afghan foreign ministry and have dubbed the alleged abduction as a “baseless accusation to defame Pakistan”.

    There has been no official statement released by Pakistan’s Foreign Office at the moment.

    Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Sherry Rehman condemned the incident.

  • Police make father of rape victim clean room, don’t file report

    Police make father of rape victim clean room, don’t file report

    A father who went to register a complaint of his daughter’s abduction and rape was forced to wash the room of the Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) in Kasur.

    As per reports, a 16-year-old girl was abducted and raped in the Mandi Usmanwala area of Kasur police station.

    The girl’s father bribed ASI Irfan and made several other efforts to file a case against his daughter’s kidnappers. But instead of taking any legal action against the accused, the police officer forced the girl’s father to wash the floor of his room.

    The video of the father washing the ASI’s room did rounds on social media after which DPO Kasur took the notice of the incident. The ASI was suspended and an inquiry has been ordered against him.

  • Earlier missing SECP official Sajid Gondal says was vacationing in northern areas

    Earlier missing SECP official Sajid Gondal says was vacationing in northern areas

    Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) Joint Director Sajid Gondal, who had gone missing from Islamabad last week, returned home on Tuesday night and said was vacationing in northern areas.

    Gondal, after confirmation by his family and friends, himself also took to Twitter to announce his return, saying he was back and safe, and thankful to all those who were worried.

    Meanwhile, a report quoted him as saying that he had gone to the northern areas for recreation.

    Police sources involved in the investigation of his disappearance told Dawn that the abductors had set him free.

    He was released near Rawat, a suburb of the federal capital. Upon being freed, he contacted his family members through a phone call and informed them that he was arriving home shortly, sources added.

    Gondal had gone missing on Thursday night and his car was found from Park Road in the capital the next morning.

    His wife had submitted a complaint of the incident at the Shahzad Town police station, expressing suspicion that her husband had been “kidnapped by unidentified persons”. She had urged the police to ensure his return, adding that the family “did not have any enmity”.

    The Shahzad Town police had registered a case over the official’s disappearance under Section 365 (kidnapping or abducting with intent secretly and wrongfully to confine person) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) on the complaint lodged by his wife.

    The FIR stated that Gondal left his house on Thursday at around 7:30 pm in his official car but did not return. Later his car was found parked at Chak Shahzad Town road near the National Agriculture Research Centre (NARC) but he was missing from there, the FIR stated, adding that his mobile phone was found switched off since then.

    The issue of Gondal’s disappearance was taken up by the federal cabinet on Tuesday, with Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan expressing “serious concern” over such an incident taking place in the capital.

    On Monday, Chief Justice Athar Minallah of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) had also expressed serious concern over the rising number of enforced disappearances in the federal capital and directed the interior secretary to take up the issue with the PM in order to devise a policy for the protection of fundamental rights of citizens.

  • Late poet Fahmida Riaz’s daughter declines presidential award to protest treatment of journalists, writers

    Late poet Fahmida Riaz’s daughter declines presidential award to protest treatment of journalists, writers

    Renowned poet Fahmida Riaz’s daughter, in protest against the alleged abduction and torture of journalists and writers by the state, has declined the presidential award that the government had announced for her late mother.

    This is the second national award that has been turned down this year as earlier, Saeen Taj Joyo, the father of missing Sindhi teacher and activist Sarang Joyo, had also declined the President’s Pride of Performance (Nisan-e-Pakistan) award on account of the disappearance of his son.

    Sarang Joyo was recently traced and claimed to have been tortured in captivity.

    In a social media post, Fahmida Riaz’s daughter Veerta Ali Ujan said that accepting an award from the Imran Khan government on her mother’s behalf would be an insult to her struggle for justice and equality. “Harassers [are] being awarded. Karachi left to rot in sewage.”

    She said had her mother been alive today, she would have also refused to accept the award from the government.

    Born in Meerut in pre-partition India in 1946, Fahmida Riaz was among the leading Urdu poets.

    She was also an unrelenting social critic and had been active in several human rights movements. She was among the writers, who had campaigned against former military ruler General Ziaul Haq’s regime and the execution of former prime minister (PM) Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.

    She had to suffer the wrath of authorities and also spent a period of self-exile in India.

    She died on November 21, 2018, at the age of 72.

  • What you need to know about viral video of lawyer who was kidnapped and tortured for a week

    DISCLAIMER: A picture of the survivor has been used while respecting her decision to come forward and making her voice heard

    A police team has been formed to probe the kidnapping and week-long torture of a woman lawyer, Advocate Irshad Nasreen, who was recovered from Mailsi, the district police officer (DPO) has said.

    The DPO, while formally announcing the woman’s recovery, said the special team, comprising the superintendent of police (SP) for investigation, Shamsul Haq, and two deputy superintendents of police (DSPs), was tasked with searching for and arresting the kidnappers.

    The police officer noted that a FIR [First Information Report] — including charges of kidnapping — was registered on behalf of the woman’s son on August 22.

    The special team was investigating the case in light of her recorded statement, Geo quoted the cop as saying.

    The woman has been shifted to the Dipalpur Tehsil Headquarters (THQ) Hospital, the police officer said.

    A resident of Dipalpur, police had earlier told media that Nasreen was recovered in a semi-conscious state from a field near Dhoda Road in Mailsi. She was found with her hands and legs tied and unable to speak.

    The day she was recovered, police said she told them she had been kidnapped from her office by unidentified men on August 14.

    A viral video that followed her recovery showed the lawyer in a traumatised state.

    Further investigation was underway, police added.

    On Monday, Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan also reportedly took notice of the incident after the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) issued a statement condemning incidents of targeted killings, kidnappings and incidents of torture of lawyers.

    In the statement, PBC Vice Chairperson Abid Saqi strongly condemned the incident, saying the increasing lawlessness in Pakistan was extremely concerning. Five lawyers have been shot dead in targeted killing so far, including four in Punjab and one in Sindh, he said.

    Three lawyers in Lahore, Pakpattan, Sialkot were kidnapped and tortured, Saqi added.

    The PBC official said the torture and abduction of the woman lawyer was extremely worrisome. The woman lawyer, he added, was tortured continuously for six days after her abduction.

    She was recovered in a very critical condition in the fields in Mailsi, he added.

    Saqi further said these incidents of violence have made lawyers vulnerable and their safety compromised. The government’s indifference to targeted killings, kidnappings, and violence in just three weeks was reprehensible, he added.

    It was the duty of the government and the administration to improve the law and order situation, he said, lamenting that the incumbent leadership had failed to protect its citizens.

    The official said the current situation called into question the ability of the government. He demanded action against those involved in the targeted killings, kidnapping, and torture of lawyers.

    Meanwhile, according to reports, she was once kidnapped earlier in October 2019 as well.

  • VIDEO: Journalist Matiullah Jan goes missing

    VIDEO: Journalist Matiullah Jan goes missing

    Journalist Matiullah Jan, who is a vocal critic of the government among other quarters, has gone missing from Islamabad, his family said on Tuesday, according to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP).

    According to Jan’s wife, Kaneez Sughra, who was speaking to Independent Urdu, his car was found with keys still inside.

    Jan was due to appear in the Supreme Court (SC) this week after it took suo motu notice of a contemptuous tweet by the journalist.

    Amnesty International South Asia called for authorities to “establish [Jan’s] whereabouts immediately”.

    In a tweet, the organisation said it was “extremely concerned for the fate and wellbeing” of the journalist, who it said has been the subject of “physical attacks and harassment for his journalism”.

    Meanwhile, a CCTV footage showed Jan’s car being intercepted. It also showed a scuffle breaking out between the journalist and the reportedly armed men who took him away.

    He can also be shown throwing his phone away, which a woman was seen handing over to one of the unidentified men.

    Federal Minister for Information Shibli Faraz, later in the day, said the government was aware of the abduction and efforts were underway for the journalist’s safe return. The development was also confirmed by Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari, who said that she was in contact with the capital city’s police in this regard.

    Chief justice of the Islamabad High Court (IHC), on the other hand, has reportedly taken notice of the abduction and directed authorities to present Jan before the court on Wednesday.