Two sisters allegedly abducted, sold off

MANSEHRA:

Police recovered two teenage sisters from a remote village of Abbottabad District on Thursday after they were allegedly abducted and sold off to a man. However, the police suspect that the girls eloped with the man of their own accord.

Shahzeb* of Bihali Mattawali Ziarat told Saddar Police that he left home on Tuesday for Shergarh, his ancestral village, leaving behind his two daughters Saba*, 15, and Sabika*, 13. When he got back in the evening, both of them were missing. After a long search, he was unable to find any clue about their whereabouts.

He told police that the same evening, he got a call and the caller told him that someone had abducted his daughters and sold them off to him for Rs50,000 each. The caller continued that if he wanted to secure his daughters, he should deliver the amount at a place, which he would disclose later.

According to Senior House Officer (SHO) Saddar Police Amjad Khan, the caller was traced in a remote village and the girls were recovered during a raid. The police also arrested the alleged kidnapper, identified as Jaffar*.

A criminal case was registered against the accused under section 365-B of the Pakistan Penal Code. However, the SHO said that the circumstances suggested that the girls had eloped with the man, who, in a bid to extort money from their father fabricated abduction for ransom.

*Names have been changed to protect identities

Published in The Express Tribune, August 24^th, 2012.