Tragedy averted? Missing child found in forest in Nowshera

At least 7 children turned up dead in city since April after they first disappeared

PESHAWAR: When Mustafa went missing from Mohallah Islamabad on September 8, his parents had more than enough reasons to panic. He is three years old and has thalassemia which requires him to get blood transfusions every 15 days – the next one was due five days after he went missing.

His father Jan Muhammad, a cobbler by profession, immediately told the police – the local station being Gulbahar. Officers there suggested publishing a picture along with a contact number in the newspapers instead.

For two long days there was no sign of Mustafa, but on third day, Jan Muhammad received a call from Akbarpura, Nowshera. The caller told him Mustafa was with them as they had found him in a nearby forest.

Jan Muhammad rushed to Nowshera and found his son. Mustafa looked a bit dazed, however, at the time Jan Muhammad was too overjoyed to take note and a bit confused to ask how his three-year-old managed to get to a place 16 kilometres from home. Mustafa could hardly walk a mile, let alone reach Nowshera.

An inside job

The man who had found Mustafa told Jan Muhammad he had found the child in the forest with a 14-year-old boy who ran as soon as he was spotted. That was when Jan Muhammad knew who was behind his son’s disappearance.

Kamran*, a distant relative, had been visiting Jan Muhammad’s family, bringing sweets for the children and taking them out with him.

“I told his father Shakil that Kamran took my boy away and then Kamran admitted he had done it,” Jan Muhammad told The Express Tribune. “He took the child to Akbarpura and when locals approached them, he panicked and fled,” said the father.

“No one can say for sure what his intentions were.” Jan Muhammad, however, was under no disillusions and took the 14-year-old to Gulbahar police station but the police refused to register an FIR on the grounds that Kamran was a juvenile.

“What more can I do when the police refused to arrest him?” asked the father. “I had no choice but to accept the decision of a local jirga…the matter was settled,” he added.

“I’m a cobbler, I don’t make much money. No one gives me work because they know I have to stay home for days because both my sons are ill.”

Jan Muhammad added, “The elder one, Uzair, can’t walk or talk even though he is six now and Mustafa has thalassemia. I am a poor man,” he repeated. “I can’t afford to take on anyone.”

When no one looks

For the less discerning, the incident does not set alarms ringing. However, after taking into account the seven children who were found dead in Peshawar since April this year, alarms should have shook the city to its core, the cavalry should have been called and the police should have taken this matter up.

One body had several fingers were missing as well as visible cuts. The dead child was estimated to be about four and was never identified. His remains were found near Ring Road with Banamarhi police station’s jurisdiction. An autopsy confirmed murder but nothing else.

In five-year-old Zikria’s case, the family suspected organ theft as they said a long incision on his abdomen had been stitched up. He had gone missing from Malangabad, within the limits of Banamarhi police, in April and his body was found in a forest in Akbarpura, on May 1.

Instead of an autopsy in a hospital in Nowshera—an available facility—Zikria’s body was sent to Khyber Medical College. No one explained why.

Also in April, Iqra went missing from Yakatoot. A week later her body was found in a canal. The family quietly buried their girl, thinking it was an accidental death. The incident, again, did not draw much attention. Neither did Amina’s mutilated body.

Amina, 10, went to school on May 16 and never came home. She was a resident of Mohallah Muhammaddad, an area within the limits of Shah Qabool police. A week later, her remains were found near Ghazi police station in Haripur district.

Five-year-old Sudas was found dead in a canal in Badhu Samarbagh. Police think he fell in a gutter and his body reached the canal via the current.

Two more children were found dead in a canal in Badabher whose identity could not be established. One of them was found on September 1.

Some children are still missing and fears that they met the same fate are not entirely groundless.

The follow-up

Law-enforcement officers were initially alarmed with the disappearance of many and subsequent deaths of some children. They say they tried to investigate but with no results, they dropped their guard. The matter was dropped when Banamarhi DPS and City SP Afzal Khan were transferred. The new officer is not yet familiar with the case of the missing children.

SSP Operation Dr Mian Saeed told The Express Tribune they were investigating the matter. Saeed said the force will not jump to any conclusions without having considered all the facts of this particular case and the previous cases.

Talking to The Express Tribune, children rights activist Imran Takkar said the Awami National Party government had established child protection units in the province with the aim to protect children. According to Takkar, it was unfortunate that the units were not taking notice of the situation. “It is the responsibility of the provincial government, police and child rights activists to work together to protect children.”

Takkar said, “I think this boy Mustafa was going to be another victim but his luck saved him.”

Luring children

Are criminals using children to lure younger ones and then killing their victims when they are done with them? Are the right questions being asked especially in the wake of Mustafa’s case? Perhaps Kamran is the missing link which no one will investigate as Jan Muhammad dropped the case after police refused to look into it. A connection is evident when the cases juxtaposed: Kamran took Mustafa to the same jungle in Akbarpura where the body of four-year-old Zikria was found.

*Name has been changed to protect identity

Published in The Express Tribune, November 8^th, 2015.