Kidnappings: No organ theft gang found, SC told

LAHORE: The Supreme Court on Thursday adjourned the hearing of a suo motu case relating to kidnapping of children in the Punjab for two weeks.  A bench headed by Justice Mian Saqib Nisar heard the case at the Lahore Registry of the Supreme Court and sought a report on the issue from a committee headed by the Punjab advocate general.  During the proceedings, the committee headed by the advocate general presented its report to the court, stating that no gang suspected of kidnapping children for organ transplant had been found in the Punjab so far. The report stated that 139 children out of 310 kidnapped from July 25 to August 23, 2016 in the Punjab had been recovered, but 171 were still missing.  Prof Dr Faisal Masood, vice chancellor of the King Edward Medical University, informed the court that organs of children under five years of age could not be transplanted in adults. He said that organs of children above five could be transplanted, but the government had imposed a ban on such transplants. He said that organs of five to 15-year-old children could not be transplanted without government’s specific permission. Justice Nisar said the social media was abuzz with rumours about kidnapping of children and theft of organs, but people should not heed those. He said some anti-state elements were apparently spreading such rumours. He asked the media to not sensationalise the issue.  The bench described the committee’s report as “short” and sought a more detailed report at the next hearing.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 26^th, 2016.