Beauty of hope: Man’s TV appeal reunites him with son missing for five months

On August 6, the boy was found roaming around the Gulistan-e-Jauhar police station.

KARACHI: Tears of joy welled up in the eyes of 12-year-old Amir when he reunited with his father after having spent about three months in the captivity of his kidnappers and two months in an orphanage.

On Thursday, he was able to see his father again at the office of Madadgaar National Helpline. Relieved to see his son alive and well, the father, Allah Ditta, put garlands around the boy’s neck.

Nervously recounting his ordeal, Amir said, “Three men kidnapped me from outside my home in Bilal Colony. I tried to scream but they silenced me by putting a piece of cloth over my mouth. This happened in May.” The young boy was then taken to a building where he saw many other boys like him. “I was not chained, but I was not allowed to go out either. The other boys were picked up from different areas. We only got food once a day, and it was daal.”

Narrating his time in abduction, Amir said that he was slapped and beaten up by the kidnappers in addition to being threatened to have him transported to Dubai soon. Before the plan could materialise, the boy found the gate of the building open one day while everyone else was asleep and he ran away. On August 6, he was found roaming around the Gulistan-e-Jauhar police station and was referred to the NGO, which then shifted him to an orphanage.

On September 28, the father made an appearance on a private television channel, appealing for the recovery of his son. “I received a call and was told that my son was in an orphanage,” said the father, who was in his hometown Muzaffargarh at that time, adding that he was relieved to find out that his child was safe. Ditta, who works in a towel factory in Karachi, said he was in Muzaffargarh to see an ailing family member. “For some nights, my wife and I could not asleep, wondering where our son was.” Amir, who spoke to his mother over the phone. “Mom, I am fine. I will be home soon.”

Zia Ahmed Awan of the Madadgaar National Helpline called for systematic coordination among the police stations, stressing that the boy’s complaint was registered at the Sharifabad police station, but he was found by Gulistan-e-Jauhar police.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 4^th, 2013.