Making them disappear: Three girls go missing from Darul Aman

One of the women was being hunted down by a criminal.

SUKKUR: It was sometime between midnight on June 30 and the morning of July 1 that three women went missing from a women's shelter home, Larkana's Darul Aman.

All there was to show for it were the sawed off iron grills of a window.

Two watchmen of the shelter home were arrested, along with four policemen, including head constable Muhammad Mithal.

However, Darul Aman incharge, Mukhtiar Abbasi, has not faced any action yet. The girls are yet to be found and no one knows what happened to them.

The story behind the missing girls

Wanted criminal Murad Narejo, was killed three months ago in an encounter with the police in Keti Mumtaz, the katcha area between Khairpur and Larkana.

Murad's brother, Anwar had fallen in love with a girl, Umeedan Narejo, and had married her a year ago. However, their marriage was far from perfect as Umeedan often found herself a victim of domestic violence.

When Murad, who had a Rs1.5 million bounty on his head, was killed in the encounter, Anwar blamed his wife for it, suspecting her to be behind it.  Anwar believed that his wife had tipped off the police and threatened to kill her.

Fearing for her life, Umeedan stole her brother-in-law's phone and called 15, asking the police for help.  The then Gambat SHO contacted her and suggested a plan. The next day, Umeedan complained of severe stomach pain and Anwar asked his younger brother, Ameer Narejo, to take her to the doctor in Gambat.

Near Gambat, they were intercepted by the police. Ameer opened fire, attempting to escape, but was killed in the resulting crossfire. Umeedan was then taken into custody and admitted to the Darul Aman, with her name changed to Muskan Sheikh to keep her identity a secret.

Anwar, now looking for revenge for the death of both his brothers, somehow managed to know that the woman being kept at the Darul Aman under the name of Muskan was actually Umeedan. He then reportedly called Shikarpur DSP, Abdul Qadir Chandio, who had killed Murad in the encounter where it had all begun. Anwar asked Chandio for his help to get Umeedan, as 'compensation' for having killed his brother.

Anwar also went to Umeedan's mother, Zarina Narejo, and asked her to force her daughter to leave the Darul Aman. Upon Zarina's refusal, he shot her dead and kidnapped her minor son, Gada Hussain Narejo. Anwar then went to Zarina's husband, Saleh Narejo - Gada's father and Umeedan's stepfather - and told him that his son will be returned to him only if he helps him get Umeedan. Saleh told Anwar that he will be unable to help him as Umeedan would not listen to him but promised him that he will not try to help her either.

"We are not concerned about Umeedan," said Umeedan's elder sister Zubaida Narejo, speaking to The Express Tribune from an unknown location. "She brought shame to our family by marrying a dacoit without our consent. Now my minor brother is in his captivity and he wants to kill our entire family."

Zubaida said that the family has gone into hiding in fear of Anwar and have tried to seek help from influential persons but to no avail.

The authorities

Chandio confirmed killing Murad in an encounter, but sources claim that the encounter was fake, with Chandio first arresting Murad and then killing him. Chandio, however, denied this as well as the suggestions that he was involved in 'smuggling' Umeedan out of the Darul Aman.

Madadgar National Helpline field officer Bushra Syed told The Express Tribune that she had asked Darul Aman incharge Abbasi to let them talk to Umeedan but she had refused, not even allowing a lawyer to meet her. "Instead of shelter homes, the Darul Amans have turned into torture cells where the inmates are treated like animals," she said.  "The authorities do not allow lawyers or the media to enter as that will reveal their mistreatment of the inmates."

Following the incident, an enquiry committee was formed by Sukkur DIG Javed Alam Odho, headed by ASP Larkana Tauqeer Naeem. The committee has found the Darul Aman staff to be behind the disappearance of the three women and are also closely inspecting Abbasi to determine her involvement.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 12^th, 2014.