HRCP calls for early recovery of abducted girls

The girls were abducted from Karachi on September 7.

LAHORE: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) on Friday urged the government to take steps to recover three girls reportedly abducted from Karachi in September.

In a statement, the commission expressed “alarm over the consistent failure to tackle abduction and trafficking of women.”

The statement said, “HRCP is concerned for the well being of the three girls who were abducted from Karachi on September 7 and are reported to be in captivity in a remote village in Sindh.

We have already written to the police and administration authorities in Sindh to raise our concern and demand the girls’ safe recovery.

“The girls, Surat Umri, Nagina and Sabina, are minors. The family had lodged an abduction case with the police. According to the only accused arrested so far, the girls had been taken to Larkana.

HRCP was told that a policeman in Larkana had advised the family to pay Rs1 million ransom to the abductors for their release.

“We have since learned that the girls were moved from Larkana to Shikarpur and from there to Khanpur village, near Pakistan’s border with India. HRCP is not in a position to vouch for all the details shared with us by the family, but we urge the authorities to urgently investigate the matter and recover the girls. “The commission calls on the government to investigate numerous and credible reports of abduction and trafficking of women, especially in upper Sindh, where the collusion of the abductors and local landowners with police appears to be one of the main hurdles in putting an end to the abduction and trafficking of women.”

Published in The Express Tribune, October 17^th, 2015.