Missing woman reunited with family after years

A woman who had been missing for years was reunited with her family at the Edhi Welfare Home on Monday.

Zainab Khursheed, 32, had been living at the Edhi Home for the last three years. Her family was traced through the Citizens Police Liaison Committee's (CPLC) Shanakht Programme.

According to the CPLC's identification programme head, Amir Hassan, Khursheed hailed from Vehari, Punjab, and had gone missing while visiting Karachi with her family. He narrated that her family returned to their hometown after being unable to find her, while Khursheed herself was unable to explain her address to anyone.

Hassan added that the CPLC had been using the biometric identification system to find the families of homeless persons under its Shanakht Programme.

He said that the Shanakht Programme was launched last year with the biometric identification of homeless men taking shelter at the Edhi Welfare Home, while the process for identifying homeless women had been initiated this year.

According to Hassan, a total of 3,200 individuals have been identified and reunited with their families using the biometric identification system under the Shanakht Programme so far.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 13^th, 2020.