Missing persons: For a distraught wife, CJ remains lone source of hope

Mehmoodul Hassan, aged 52, went missing from Balochistan’s Chagai district two years ago.

QUETTA: After the failure of the province’s law enforcement agencies to recover her husband, missing for the past two years, a woman submitted her application before the Supreme Court Treasury Bench on Monday, detailing her family’s ordeal.

“My husband Mehmoodul Hassan, aged 52 years, went missing from Dalbandin area of the Chagai district over two years ago,” revealed Hajra Mirza, while talking to The Express Tribune.

Hajra, accompanied by her young son, said her husband had been kidnapped in 2010 by a group of armed men.

“After a week, the kidnappers contacted me and demanded a huge ransom for his release since they knew he was an established businessman,” she said.

However, according to Hajra, some senior officials advised her not to pay the ransom money, vowing to recover her husband soon.

“26 months have passed since those promises were made and I am still not aware of the whereabouts of my husband,” lamented Hajra.

“I approached senior government and intelligence officials but they only gave me more assurances, all the while failing to nab the miscreants involved in the kidnapping,” she asserted.

“I do not know whether he is alive or not. What I just want is an immediate end to this uncertainty, which has confounded my family members ever since his abduction,” said a visibly perplexed wife.

In times of misery, even a tiny ray of hope can be a source of comfort.

The family members still cling to the hope of finding Mehmoodul Hassan alive.

“My elder son, perturbed by the fate of his father, went to a soothsayer who informed him that he was still alive,” said Hajra.

Hajra carries a firm conviction that money was not the sole reason behind her husband’s abduction since the kidnappers had not contacted her again in the last 24 months.

Now, Hajra has her hopes pinned on Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry for Mehmoodul Hassan’s safe recovery.

“I submitted an application and the chief justice said that he would hear my case after two weeks,” she remarked with a tinge of optimism manifest in her voice.

Balochistan violence

Four people, including two women, were killed in separate incidents of violence in Kohlu and Naseerabad districts on Monday.

According to personnel of the Balochistan Levies in Kohlu, unidentified men killed a couple, accused of having illicit relations.

“It could be a case of honour killing,” said an official, while commenting upon the crime.

At the same time, police officials found a woman’s corpse in Naseerabad.  The body was taken to a nearby government hospital for autopsy.

“According to the doctors, the corpse bore multiple marks of torture and the victim had been strangled,” said a police official. The deceased was later identified as Sakina.

A person identified as Chakar Khan was also targeted in Kohlu. Investigations were still under way in order to determine the circumstances surrounding the killing.