EDITED M. M. ALAM
KARACHI: Madadgaar National Helpline case study narrates a story of modern-day slavery involving two sisters Fauzia (Noor Begum) 12 and Alishba 6. They were kidnapped on July 29, 2015 and trafficked before being recovered on September, 2016.
The kids will be celebrating Eid tomorrow (Tuesday, September 12) with their parents after being away from them for two Eids. Following is their account of survival from deceit, mercilessness, greed, inhumanity and degradation.
Their recovery has been made possible by collective effort of all the stakeholders in both Sindh and Baluchistan, mainly Madadgaar National Helpline 1098, its founder Zia Ahmed Awan (Advocate Supreme Court of Pakistan, National Commissioner for Children Sindh and Member Sindh Child Protection Authority) and the Minister Social Welfare Department Sindh Shamim Mumtaz (Chairperson Sindh Child Protection Authority).
Then there were Salman Faruqui (Federal Ombudsman), Viqar Un Nisa (Focal Person National Commissioners for Children), Federal Ombudsman Baluchistan, Speaker Provincial Assembly Baluchistan Raheela Durrani (National Commissioner for Children Baluchistan), Parveen Magsi, Mir Nadir Ali Khan Magsi (MPA) and his brother Mir Khalid Khan Magsi.
On 29th July 2015, Shafi kidnapped the girls from their neighborhood by deceitfully feeding them drugged sweets. He imprisoned them for a while in Karachi but one day they were able to run away from the captivity. They were picked up by PS Gulberg and sent to Edhi Center. Shafi traced them and fraudulently pretended to be their father and took them from there. He then took them to Dera Murad Jamali, Baluchistan while making pit stops within Sindh even for a few days or so. During this travel he was using drugs to keep the girls sedated. Once there he sold the girls for Rs. 300,000.
On 11 August 2015 Noor Nabi (Father) and his wife came to Madadgaar and told that their daughters Fauzia (Noor Begum) and Alishba who went to buy sweets from the shop did not return and were missing.
Noor Nabi is a fisherman and he was at the sea with his 18-year-old son Noor Ahmed. The mother of two girls started searching for them. After inquiring from the shopkeeper she found out that the girls bought the sweets and went back.
The girls could not be found. The mother went to Docks Police Station and lodged report of both sisters in missing child entries. When Noor Nabi, who got injured while fishing, came back he learned about the missing children.
After knowing about this incident he started searching for his daughters in the same (injured) condition. For this purpose he also went to different Edhi Centers and submitted his daughters’ information and details enabling them to call in case there were any information about the missing girls. He also met Anwar Kazmi, the in-charge of Edhi centers, and shared the details of his daughters.
Noor Nabi is very poor. He has three sons other than the two sisters. Since he had no money, he sold his house in order to finance the search for his daughters. A year passed without any trace of the children.
A young girl better known as “ChotiMunni” also went missing. She lived a little far from Noor Nabi’s neighborhood and knew his daughters. She ended up in Edhi Center at Sohrab Goth. There she saw Noor Begum and Alishba. Five days before Eid her Uncle brought her home.
On 8 August 2016 she met with girls’ brother and told her about them being at Sohrab Goth Edhi Center. After getting this news, confirmation from Choti Munni and advice from Madadgaar, Noor Nabi went there with his wife on 9 August 2016. When he got there he found out that his daughters are not there.
He called Madadgaar who reached out to Anwar Kazmi and informed him about this situation. He ensured Madadgaar that all the related information on this case will be provided urgently to Madadgaar by Edhi.
When Edhi Center’s file was reviewed by Madadgaar it transpired that the two girls were referred from PS Gulburg as abandoned children on 14 January 2016 who found them in Moosa Colony. It was also found in the documents that they were reunited with parents through Amir Liaquat’s TV program “Yeh Bacha Kis Ka Hai”.
But Madadgaar team could not locate these girls among the 29 children who participated in this program and in all the footage that Madadgaar team reviewed. After this Madadgaar contacted Edhi Center again and asked for further cooperation.
Upon which they found out that two persons took the sisters from there on 27 May 2016. One of them pretended to be Noor Nabi. At Edhi Center only a photograph was taken as documentation of reunification and no other information or client history was taken before handing over the girls to that person.
Madadgaar’s continuous case-work, pressure-building and Noor Nabi’s resolute dedication towards finding his daughters resulted into capture of a relative of main culprit. He was identified and brought in by the Edhi Center staff. He is the brother of primary suspect in this case.
After this development, Madadgaar moved further with the case and sent a letter to SHO PS Samanabad on 16 August 2016 with all documentation and file to lodge and FIR against the primary suspect.
The SHO told Noor Nabi that the FIR will only be lodged after approval from the DSP of area. Seeing this delay in case proceedings, Madadgaar contacted DIG Karachi (West) and wrote a letter to him along with all the information apropos the case. After much efforts and coordination with the DIG, DSP and SHO the FIR was lodged on 22 August 2016.
Police investigations showed that the person, who pretended to be Noor Nabi, was originally Shafi. He had taken the girls to Dera Murad Jamali, Baluchistan. He handed the girls over to a person named Manzoor who found a buyer there, better known as Mullah who bought the girls for Rs. 300,000 and enslaved them in his home. This man has two wives, five sons and two daughters.
Madadgaar highlighted this case through a Press Conference on 26 August 2016 after which constant pressure was built on Police to recover the girls.
Madadgaar National Helpline also raised the case at different forums such as Sindh Child Protection Authority and Federal and Provincial Ombudsman offices. National Commissioner for Children and founder of Madadgaar National Helpline Zia Ahmed Awan Advocate wrote letters to chairperson Sindh Child Protection Authority Shamim Mumtaz (Minister Social Welfare Department Sindh) and Federal Ombudsman Salman Faruqui about this matter.
He also reached out to Raheela Durrani (Speaker Provincial Assembly Baluchistan and National Commissioner for Children) and Parveen Magsi in Baluchistan to use their influence and connections for mobilizing the government especially the Police to recover the girls. This line of action established a credible threat to the kidnapper, Shafi, for being caught and punished.
Minister Social Welfare Sindh and Chairperson Sindh Child Protection Authority Shamim Mumtaz also met SSP to inquire about recovery of the girls. She also actively coordinated with Madadgaar & Zia Awan Advocate.
As Shafi came to know about all this happening, his brother and accomplice caught here in Karachi, he went to Mullah accompanied by Manzoor and asked him to return the girls. There was a disagreement and the girls were sent to Jhal Magsi, Baluchistan, where Khalid Khan Magsi, who had already been alerted by Mir Nadir Ali Khan Magsi (MPA) who in turn was intimated by efforts of Raheela Durrani and Parveen Magsi, had them released from clutches of their enslavers.
His people contacted PS Docks Karachi where the original missing entry was made and informed them about the girls. Their father Noor Nabi was called upon at the Police Station to attend a call with his daughters for identification purposes. After the identification they were asked to get the girls.
Police had already moved an application to Home Department Sindh for sending a Police search party to Baluchistan for recovery of the two sisters.
The response to which had still not come. Upon this progress and finding of the girls, the Police asked Noor Nabi to arrange Rs. 35,000 so that they can go and recover his daughters.
Noor Nabi managed to raise only Rs. 15,000 by means of begging from his relatives and neighbors. Following the availability of that meager funds Noor Nabi and the Police Party comprising of PS Samnabad and PS Docks left Karachi on-board a bus from Sohrab Goth. They reached Shahjahan Abad from there they hired a car for Jhal Magsi late at night, around 1 AM.
They reached the Dera of Khalid Khan Magsi where Fauzia (Noor Begum) and Alishba were reunited with Noor Nabi. They came back to Karachi on the same car around 10 AM next day.
Police took Noor Nabi and his daughters to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for medico-legal examination where they waited till 4 PM in the evening for the checkup. When it did not happen, Noor Nabi was told to go home leaving his daughters at the Police Station as he was ensured that the girls will be sent safely and securely to WPS Liaquatabad, Karachi.
He was also told that once the IO will come and the checkup is done the police will call him and give him the custody of girls. The IO did not arrive till very late at night and they were sent to WPS Liaquatabad later on.
Next day, Noor Nabi took the girls to the Civil Hospital for Medico-legal examination. Dr. Kaleem Shaikh was the Medico-Legal Officer who performed the examination on girls. Then the Police recorded the statement of the girls on the matter before presenting them before court.
But prior to this, they asked the girls to change their statement. They asked them to state that they were kidnapped by Shafi who was trying to take them away and at Sohrab Goth they saw their father and the Police Party, Shafi got scared and ran off while Noor Nabi and the Police saw them and took them in.
The Police said that they were doing this because they did not get approval from Home Department to go to Baluchistan to recover the girls and the judge would charge them for crossing their jurisdiction for which their jobs would be in danger.
Fortunately, the judge did not ask for the said statement. Abdul Hadi Advocate, a senior lawyer from Lawyers for Human Rights and Legal Aid (LHRLA), appeared before the court upon instructions by Zia Ahmed Awan Advocate to support the court hearing in custody of children to their parents and he made sure of it.
Finally police then gave custody of the girls to Noor Nabi but asked him for more money. When he failed to grease their palms, Police verbally abused him. Nevertheless, the girls were handed-over to him after having him swear that he would be at the court hearings every time.
The next court hearing is on 16 September 2016.
