Citizens protest as teenage school girl goes missing in Karachi

KARACHI: Police on Wednesday registered a kidnapping case after a 15-year-old girl went missing in Karachi’s Peer Ilahi Bukhsh Colony area, ARY News reported.

According to the girl’s parents, the 15-year-old left school for home but never returned prompting them to approach police and file a kidnapping case.The parents added that the 10th grade student was asked to go home as she reached the institution a little late in the morning but she went missing.

As soon as the news of girl’s alleged kidnapping reached PIB Colony, parents, relatives and area residents staged a protest to demand her recovery. The protesters demanded from the Chief Justice of Pakistan to take notice of the incident and other kidnappings in Karachi.

Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) leader Farooq Sattar joined the protesters and urged the police to take prompt action to overcome the rising incidents of kidnappings in the city.

“Police (through their inaction) have allowed the criminals to kidnap people with impunity in Karachi, this trend should stop,” said Sattar.

Police say a search for the teenager is under way and police is investigating the case from all angles, adding that another student from the same school is also missing.

It is pertinent to note here that reports of child kidnappings in the city have terrorized residents of Karachi and the echoes have also been heard in the National Assembly.

Last month, Minister of State for Interior Shehryar Khan Afridi invited opposition for legislation to take strict action against the elements involved in child abduction.

The minister said this while responding to a calling attention notice regarding major crime of child abduction in Karachi threatening human rights.

He said, “On the instructions of prime minister, I will visit Karachi soon and meet PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto to discuss the issues of child abduction”.