Pakistanis panicked by wave of disappearing children

By Aamir Latif

KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) - Mumtaz Bibi was trying to calm the crying fit her 7-year-old son was throwing over not being bought a toy, when she was set upon by a mob.

They believed she was trying to kidnap the child and it was only the intervention of other onlookers in the busy shopping area of Lahore, in northeastern Pakistan, that saved Bibi.

There have been a string of similar beatings over recent weeks after media reports that hundreds of children have been kidnapped in the Punjab region, at least half of them in Lahore.

The anger behind the beatings has been fueled by rumors the kidnapped children could face sexual abuse, have their organs harvested, or be forced to beg on the streets.

While media reports claim 600 children have gone missing, the Punjab police say the number is closer to 200 over the past month and claim the majority ran away from home.

In a report submitted in the Supreme Court on Aug. 4, the police admitted that over 767 kidnapping cases were reported in the first seven months of 2016, though 715 were rescued or returned to their homes.

Around 6,800 children went missing over the last six years.

“There is no evidence suggesting the involvement of any organized gang in the kidnapping [of children]. We have found no similarity in the modus operandi of the missing or alleged kidnapping,” Lahore Police Chief Haider Ashraf told reporters.

Contrary to police claims, Kashif Bajeer, the country head for the Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (SPARC), said, “The situation is even worse.”

“Scores of such incidents go unreported, especially in ransom cases,” Jabeer told Anadolu Agency.

He said there are no laws or mechanisms to counter internal trafficking of children, especially for forced domestic labor.

“The so-called child protection bureaus set up by provincial governments have failed to check this issue. They do not even have specific figures of the children abducted,” he said.

Punjab law minister, Rana Sanaullah, admitted the kidnapping of children “is a problem.”

“This is something we cannot let go. We will trace the perpetrators and take them to task. Kidnapping children and then demanding ransom is easy for the kidnappers,” Sana told local English daily The Express Tribune.