Safer ground: Runaway girl returns with parents to Karachi

Claims she went to Peshawar fearing that her parents might sell her off.

PESHAWAR: A girl who had run away from her home in Karachi was returned to her parents by the Halfway House after receiving a surety bond.

According to sources, Sumera Lal came to Peshawar from Karachi and filed an application with Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa's Human Rights Directorate (HRD) out of fear that her parents wanted to sell her. She came to Peshawar to ask the directorate to protect her.

The HRD received a written application from Lal and contacted the Halfway House to keep her under their protection. The directorate also asked the Halfway House to keep them informed if they managed to trace the girl's relatives. Lal's parents were identified after they reached Peshawar. They took her back to Karachi after the Halfway House was given a surety that she will not be sold.

The incharge of the Halfway House, Rubina Riaz Khan, told The Express Tribune that the girl reached the Peshawar bus stand from where she approached the human rights directorate and sought shelter.

Khan claimed that Lal stayed with them for a while and they asked her if she knew anyone in the city. Lal informed the officials of the Halfway House that she had a friend in the city. The officials got in touch with Lal's friend who put them in touch with the girl's parents.

"Lal's parents came here and said that they wanted to take her back to Karachi," said Khan. "They assured us that they will not sell her. The girl even showed willingness to go back to Karachi if her parents promised not to sell her." After the required procedure and documentation was complete, Lal was allowed to go home with her parents.

An official from the HRD, who wished to remain anonymous, told The Express Tribune that they received several applications, including some with detailed complaints about domestic issues and government departments.

"In case of threats to someone's life, we direct the police to provide security to the applicant," he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 23^rd, 2014.