Missing boy: Court seeks report on welfare houses for runaway kids

Rahima Khatoon took police to court over alleged detention of her 13-year-old son.

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court has directed police authorities to submit a report about availability of welfare centres for destitute or runaway children in Karachi.

This direction was passed by Chief Justice Mushir Alam, while heading a bench exclusively hearing the cases of missing persons.

Rahima Khatoon took the police to court over alleged detention of her 13-year-old son, Muhammad Ali. She told the judges that Ali disappeared on March 5, 2010 after he left the house to go shopping.

A missing person case was registered at the Korangi Industrial Area but police have been unable to trace the boy’s location.

In her petition, she said that she had received calls regarding her son a while back.

The petitioner suspected that her son-in-law, Noor Muhammad, might have kidnapped Ali.



On Friday, Sindh police Additional IG (Legal) Ali Sher Jakhrani told the judges that Noor Muhammad, Ramesh and Jamil Bihari had been investigated but nothing came out of the interrogations.

On the court’s query, the police officer said that field checks were also carried out at different places, including Edhi and Chhipa houses, but not at Darul Atfal.

The bench directed AIG Jakhrani to inform the court about availability of centres where destitute or runaway children are housed, including remand homes, juvenile jail and other non-government organisations working for the welfare of such children.

Police were ordered to make field checks at such facilities to ascertain the location of the missing boy.

The bench also directed the lawyers representing two cellular service providers to share information with law enforcing agencies immediately to help them uncover leads in the case.

The hearing was adjourned till January 31.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 17^th, 2012.