Reunited: Kidnapped siblings recovered after six years in Abbottabad

Abductor claims he loves the children as his own.

ABBOTTABAD:

In what seems to be a miraculous yet bizarre twist of fate, two children who had been allegedly kidnapped from Murree six years ago were found in Abbottabad on Saturday, safe and healthy.

According to the police, the kidnapper was a close friend of the children’s father Muhammad Babar Bhatti, a resident of Seesal Khaiter village in Murree.

Bhatti’s friend Rehmat Ali, a resident of Sangori village in Gujar Khan, Rawalpindi, used to visit his house regularly and developed a close relationship with his children Muhammad Waseem, 7, and Shazia, 10.



“He would often take the children shopping to the market,” said Bhatti.

He added in September 2007 he was not at home when Ali paid them a visit and asked Bhatti’s wife to give the children permission to go shopping with him and she obliged.

However, Ali and the children never returned back home.

Despite many efforts, Murree police failed to find any clues about the whereabouts of the kidnapper and the children.

After several attempts to trace Ali, in late 2013, Bhatti managed to obtain phone numbers issued in Ali’s name and contacted the Punjab police which helped him trace Ali to a village in Abbottabad.

On Saturday morning, in a joint raid, Abbottabad and Punjab police raided Ali’s house in Maira Mandroch village, arrested him and recovered the two siblings safe and sound.

Abbottabad Heinous Crime Cell ASI Naseem Gul Khan said Ali was traced through a phone call he made to a driver. “The driver was picked up for investigation and he led us to Ali’s rented house in the village.”



Stockholm syndrome?

Ali, on the other hand, claims he loves the children and has raised them like a father. He told journalists at Nawa Shehar police station that he had remained unmarried and taken care of the children like they were his own. Ali added he got them enrolled in a private school in Abbottabad and began working as a fruit seller to provide for them.

According to Ali, he raised them much better than their parents would have.

Bhatti is a barber by profession and has eight children. “Shazia and Waseem were the eldest and Bhatti could not care for them as per their needs. He could not provide them new clothes or put them in school,” claimed Ali.

Incidentally, the children initially refused to identify Bhatti as their father and even requested the policemen to not hurt Ali because he was their father.

The children stayed with Ali without protest for so long because he had told them their parents could not be located. He had also promised them he would take them back as soon as he found their parents’ address. “Whenever, we asked Baba (Ali) to take us back he told us our parents had left the village and he would take us back when he found them,” said Waseem.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 2^nd, 2014.