As the days get shorter some are thankful for September as it announces the end of a scorching summer with autumn on the horizon while others try to find comfort in whatever is left of the warmer weather.
However, for one resident of Peshawar September only brings bad memories from a year ago when her life as she knew it was torn apart - five-year-old Zainab’s mother. Zainab was playing near the railway track of the slum she resided in when she decided to go home to quench her thirst and get money to buy herself candies. She reached home and did both but after that she disappeared.
Now her mother languishes in despair as she waits to see a glimpse of her dear daughter. For over a year Zainab’s mother has gone door-to-door enquiring about her child but has not found any leads. Her search took her all the way to Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s (K-P) Dir district and Swat but to no avail. She had also lodged a missing person’s report at the Faqirabad police station but that has not helped either.
With tears in her eyes, she told The Express Tribune that she stands at the door every day hoping that someone will bring her Zainab back. “I long for the day someone will call me and say that come, we have found Zainab,” she said. She informed this reporter that she has no expectations from the police whatsoever. “If the police had worked hastily in the start, I would not have had to see this day. If the police had wanted, I would have had Zainab with me today,” she said.
Her anger at the policing in the area is apparent as she states that the police came to console her then disappeared for months. “We are poor, that’s why our case is being neglected. If Zainab was the daughter of a VIP, she would have been found by now,” she lamented.
Referring to Zainab’s case, ASP Faqirabad, Omar told The Express Tribune that they were working day and night for the recovery of the child. Omar further claimed that their search had led them as far as the Afghan border. “The mother and father of the girl have a dispute between them which has proved a hindrance for the case but we will try to get the girl back home as soon as possible,” he said.
However, The Express Tribune found that this is not an isolated incident as there are many cases in Peshawar which could not be traced even after more than 10 months. As per information gathered, the investigation teams are limited to doing paperwork instead of actual searches.
For instance, in November last year within the limits of Badaber police station in Peshawar, four children were brutally murdered and their bodies were dumped in the area. The FIR in the case was registered by the children’s uncle. After the incident, former IG Sanaullah Abbasi went to the children’s house and assured the family of arresting the criminals but to this date the family awaits justice.
Similarly, Tahirullah, the son of a special needs father, was brutally murdered in Peshawar ten months ago. The child’s uncle, while talking to The Express Tribune said that the child’s father is unable to speak and has no enmity with anyone. “To this day no arrest has been made and we continue to wait for justice,” he informed this reporter.
The CCPO Peshawar Abbas Ahsan, talking to The Express Tribune about the slow pace of investigations, informed that a meeting is held every week with the investigation teams regarding the pending cases. “We have done geo-fencing but so far no clear information about Zainab has been found yet.” He further said that in the Badaber case many people have been interrogated and hopefully the case would be traced. “Whether old or new [cases], we use all available resources to arrest suspects on a priority basis,” he informed The Express Tribune.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 3rd, 2021.
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