Tag: begging

  • Forced begging now non-bailable offence

    Forced begging now non-bailable offence

    The Punjab Home Department has sent amendments to the anti-rape law to the Cabinet for approval.

    According to the spokesman of the Punjab Home Department, under the new law, forced begging has been declared a non-bailable offence.

    The spokesperson said that those who force children, the elderly and women to beg will be severely punished, while the gang leaders of beggar mafias will face 10 years of imprisonment with a fine of 20 lakh rupees. In case of non-payment of fine, three additional years of punishment will have to be served.

    Similarly, apart from forcing children to beg, those you physically harm minors are also in for a tough time.

    The Home Department noted that previously, there was no law to punish the gang leaders of the beggar mafia.

  • Professional beggars to be blacklisted by FIA

    Professional beggars to be blacklisted by FIA

    The Federal Investigative Agency has decided to blacklist the passports of professional beggars who go abroad to seek alms.

    Director-General FIA Mohsin Butt has issued a directive to thwart these passengers from flying abroad. A crackdown has been initiated, with seventy-four suspects from airports across the country offloaded and transferred to the FIA Anti-Human Trafficking Circles for further investigation. Their passports are going to be blacklisted.

    Previously a report was submitted to the Senate Standing Committee on Overseas Pakistanis about a shocking percentage of professional beggars who were arrested in the Middle East. 90 per cent of them are Pakistanis. These also include pickpockets who are arrested from the religious sites.

    The Secretary of Overseas Pakistanis raised the issue in front of the committee. “Beggars are leaving Pakistan in large numbers, often travelling by boatloads. They are exploiting Umrah and visiting visas to beg from pilgrims abroad,” he informed the committee. The increasing number of Pakistani beggars in Iraq and Saudi Arabia is also a cause of less regard, mistrust and growing suspicion attached to the Pakistani nation. An increasing numbers of prisoners in foreign jails is feeding into the tarnished image and highlights the serious issue of human trafficking as well.

  • Police arrests 106 professional beggars in a crackdown

    Police arrests 106 professional beggars in a crackdown

    In a crackdown against professional beggars, the Rawalpindi Police arrested 106 beggars over the course of three days in an effort to reduce the issue of panhandling and lower the risk of traffic accidents caused by jaywalking.

    According to a police spokesman, the anti-beggary squads carried out raids in various neighborhoods, took action against professional beggars, and detained them in various police stations throughout the city on the orders of Senior Superintendent of Police, Operations Rawalpindi, Waseem Riaz.

    SSP Riaz claimed that specialised anti-begging squads were making a valiant effort to combat the rise in professional beggars.

    “The professional beggars stand on various highways and squares of Rawalpindi city and not only affect the flow of traffic but also increase the risk of accidents. Therefore, the public is requested not to serve alms to them, as discouraging such factors will not only improve the society, but also the flow of traffic,” he said.

  • Beggar gifts PKR 234,000 motorbike to wife, both continue begging together

    Beggar gifts PKR 234,000 motorbike to wife, both continue begging together

    A beggar from Madhya Pradesh begged for four years and purchased a motorcycle worth Rs234,000 (INR90,000) for his wife.

    He spent all of his savings on the bike as his wife complained about a backache from sitting on the tricycle he owned earlier. This story is from Amarwara village, where the beggar, Santosh Sahu, expressed his love for his wife by purchasing a small motorcycle.

    Sahu is a disabled man who rides a tricycle and begs for money with his wife, Munni Sahu. Munni drags Sahu’s tricycle forward while the two beg.

    Munni would occasionally fall while attempting to push the tricycle due to the poor road conditions. As a result, Santosh decided to purchase her a moped.

    The pair begs for money at different spots from bus stops to mosques and temples, earning up to Rs1,000 (400 INR) per day. Santosh began saving money every day in order to purchase his wife’s dream bike. The couple is now back to their regular practise of begging in their freshly purchased motorcycle.

  • Woman in Lahore wears clown costume to earn living

    A woman in Lahore wears a clown costume every day to earn her living to avoid begging on the streets, reported Samaa News.

    Saima wanted to become a doctor but she had no idea that she would be working as a clown on the streets of Lahore.

    I have lost a lot in life,” Saima said on Samaa TV’s show Naya Din. “First my father, who died with his dreams, and then my own aspirations.”

    Saima’s father and two brothers passed away within just three years. She had to earn in order to support her ill mother as no one from her family or friends came forward to support her in these difficult times.

    Saima tried to find a suitable job while pursuing her education but due to a tough schedule couldn’t take up any of the jobs as she had to take care of her mother as well. She managed to find one job, which seemed to accommodate her timings.

    “Things went smoothly for four months,” Saima said. But then her boss started making inappropriate demands from her, such as going out for a meal with him.

    “He said in a meeting that I was his wife,” Saima recalled. Saima left he job after being warned of a culture of harassment and exploitation at her organisation by one of her friends who had worked there before.

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    She left the job and was so needy that she even considered begging on the streets.

    But then she saw a kid dressed up as a clown to entertain other children to earn a living. This inspired her and gave her an idea of doing the same. “That child taught me such a great lesson that I could do anything for my mother,” said Saima. When she started working as a clown she felt as if the Saima in her had “died”.

    But even this job is not easy. She has been slapped and called names by men on the street, some of whom think she is a man or transgender behind the mask. She earns Rs700 to Rs800 a day.

    Meanwhile, Chief Minister Punjab, Usman Buzdar has contacted Saima to help her.