This Eid, eight-year-old Ariba had bangles, henna and new clothes – not her baba

During the Eid holidays, people visited the homes of their relatives and friends to exchange greetings. Gifts are also distributed among children, especially the traditional Eidi. Special feasts and get-togethers were arranged to celebrate the festival with family and friends.

But eight-year-old Ariba was not able to act on any of her many plans this Eid. The reason was a rise in crimes across Karachi, particularly during the holy month of Ramazan. She is just one of those unfortunate children who lost their fathers in crimes during Ramazan. Her father Ayub Ibrahim, 40, was shot dead on May 24 over resisting a bid to snatch an SUV from his service station near the Memon Medical Hospital in the Safoora Goth area.

The CCTV footage obtained by the police shows how he caught one of the suspects, and how he was shot multiple times by the robber’s accomplices for it. The footage shows one of the suspects wearing a shirt and trousers, while the other two can be seen in shalwar kameez. The three were trying to snatch an SUV from its driver at the service station when the station’s owner attempted to thwart the snatching bid.

After killing Ibrahim, the robbers made their escape on a motorcycle. An FIR (No. 277/19) was later registered on the complaint of the SUV owner, namely Muhammad Riaz, against hitherto unidentified suspects.

A resident of the Old Golimar area in District Central, Ibrahim had been running his service station for more than a decade. He was quite popular in the neighbourhood because of his polite attitude and behaviour. He is survived by his wife, 12-year-old son Faisal and daughter Ariba.

After Ibrahim’s murder, Faisal is the only person in his family who can take care of his father’s business. The family has no other option to survive. “Since my baba has lost his life, I have to run his business to take care of my family,” said the grade-V student. “I don’t know how I will manage both [studies and work] together.”

His sister Ariba had bangles and henna cones with new clothes for Eid, but she couldn’t use them. “My baba had bought them for me for Eid. I have all of these things but I don’t have my baba,” said the teary-eyed girl. “Please bring my baba back.”

Ibrahim’s uncle Lal Muhammad said the family was not be able to celebrate the Eid because they were in mourning. “Can you believe a boy who is not yet a teenager being forced to focus on work instead of his studies? What was the fault of Ibrahim and his family? Is it their fault that Ibrahim tried to catch some criminals? Had the police performed their duties properly, Ibrahim would have still been with us and his family would have celebrated Eid.”

Ibrahim was quite familiar in the locality because of his good nature. “He really was a nice man,” said Sachal SHO Qalandar Bakhsh. “He didn’t lose his life for an SUV, but rather sacrificed it to save his customer’s vehicle.”

This is not just Ibrahim’s story. There are others who have fallen victim to crimes, especially in Ramazan. Three more people were killed and some 34 others injured during the holy month in various robbing bids across the city.

Besides the murders and injuries, a number of people were deprived of their cars, motorcycles and mobile phones. According to the data compiled by the Citizens-Police Liaison Committee, between the first and the 27th of Ramazan, 20 four-wheelers were snatched and 113 others stolen, 120 motorcycles were snatched and 2,276 others stolen, and 1,418 people were deprived of their phones.

On the one hand, the police always claim busting gangs of criminals, but on the other there is no visible let-up in the rising incidents of crimes in the city.

“The graph of the snatchings of four-wheelers and two-wheelers shows a considerable reduction as compared to the previous years,” claimed Crime Investigation Agency DIG Arif Hanif. “Many notorious snatchers have been either killed in police encounters or arrested. However, serious efforts are being continually made to bring down the figure of the thefts of two-wheelers.”

Anti-Car Lifting Cell (ACLC) SSP Amjad Shaikh claimed: “I took over as ACLC chief on May 20, and since then we have busted at least three major gangs of vehicle lifters. In the last 13 days the ACLC has recovered 17 motorcycles and nine cars.”

He said: “We have a substantial lead in the Ibrahim case. One of the facilitators has been picked up from Hub. At the moment, all the names of the accused are clear and we’re trying our best to apprehend them.”