Police mandate new child safety rules after wave of abductions in Pakistan's largest city

Police in Pakistan's largest city and economic hub Karachi issued strict safety guidelines on Monday requiring schools to release students only to parents or authorized drivers, following a surge in child abductions. The measures, announced by Sindh Police, come amid growing concerns about missing children across the region.

Inspector General of Police (IGP) Ghulam Nabi Memon announced plans to create the province's first centralized database of missing children cases after a meeting with NGO representatives revealed significant discrepancies between police and private organizations' records. The database aims to streamline reporting and tracking of missing children cases across Sindh.

The new guidelines require schools and religious seminaries to maintain detailed records of all transport workers and staff members. Parents must provide complete information about household employees, including maids and school van drivers, and children cannot be released to unauthorized individuals.

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"Teaching children how to contact police and navigate home is crucial," Memon said at the Karachi meeting. He urged parents to immediately contact the police helpline if their children go missing, rather than assuming kidnapping has occurred.

Local residents are being asked to remain vigilant about unfamiliar people in their neighborhoods, particularly paying attention to unknown street vendors and beggars. The police have established a dedicated helpline number (15) for reporting suspicious activities or missing children cases.

Missing child found dead

On January 7, a 7-year-old boy disappeared from New Karachi's Anum Apartments after attending a lesson at a local madrassa with his older brother. The madrassa teacher told the father his son had left the religious educational institute at 3:40 p.m. that afternoon.

Police registered a case at Bilal Colony Police Station after an extensive search yielded no results. Eleven days later, the child's body was found in a nearby water tank. Dr. Ghazanfar Ali at Abbassi Shaheed Hospital confirmed the child had been raped and murdered, with approximately 12 wounds on his body.

Seven suspects, including a relative of the child, have been detained from the apartment complex and surrounding area. Police have collected DNA samples and are conducting forensic examination of evidence found in one of the apartments. DIG West Irfan Baloch said an investigation committee led by DSP Liaquatabad Fareed Ahmed has been formed to solve the case.

Another kidnapping in Garden Area

In a separate incident, two children, 5-year-old Aliyan and 6-year-old Ali Raza, were kidnapped from Garden Area while playing near their home. SSP City Arif Aziz said one mother reported a suspicious man had been offering candy to neighborhood children for five days before disappearing after the incident.

Police deployed K9 units to aid the search, using the children's clothing to track their scent. The search covered gutters and under-construction buildings in the area but yielded no leads.

While investigators discovered CCTV footage showing two children on a motorcycle with a man and woman, Aziz said the footage was unrelated to this case.