During a meeting he chaired on Monday to discuss the increasing cases of missing children, Sindh police chief Ghulam Nabi Memon decided to hold regular meetings with governmental and non-governmental sectors, and social organisations.
The review meeting was held at the Central Police Office to determine the exact number of missing children, and the efforts made to find them. Future meetings will include Roshni Helpline, Zara Alert, Zainab Alert, CPLC, Karachi Police 15, Women & Child Protection Department, IG Complaints Cell, etc. to collect the exact number of missing and found children, centralise the data and provide it to the relevant sectors, especially the media.
Roshni Helpline founder Muhammad Ali told the meeting about his organisation’s performance regarding missing children, and the steps taken to find them. He said police is the only department that plays the most active role in searching for missing children.
He also said Roshni Helpline performs its individual and collective role in searching for missing children very seriously, and keeping in mind its professional capabilities. Moreover, he added, to pay tribute to all such officials, Roshni Helpline wishes to organise a ceremony in their honour.
The IG Complaints Cell assistant said the data provided by the relevant governmental and non-governmental agencies working on finding missing children in the country and the province are different.
He said the Sindh police have developed a regular app for registering reports of missing children, and check details of the search efforts as well as information about their finding.
He also said access to the app would be given to all police departments, including area SHOs, and relevant governmental and non-governmental institutions. The Sindh Police 15 also has a department specifically for reporting and recovering missing persons, he added.
IG Memon said that regular meetings should be held to ensure accurate statistics of missing children, check the current situation and to enhance joint cooperation. “All stakeholders need to work together on the issue of missing children. We need to educate the public, especially children, about what to do in case they go missing.”
He said parents need to educate young children about how and whom to inform in case they go missing. Education about contacting police is the easiest and safest message, he added. He also said police is the only department that is popular and organised among the public down to the very lowest level. In the case of missing children, immediately giving the impression of kidnapping is premature and frivolous, he added.
The police chief said that according to official and non-official data, 70 per cent of missing children returned home in a short time or were found by their parents. Giving the impression of kidnapping immediately also poses risks to the life of the child, he added.
He said kidnappers take lives of children after feeling the pressure of being surrounded. Moreover, he added, parents and relatives should immediately inform the local police or Police 15 about children’s disappearance, as it is possible that police already have the child or information about them.
