Parents ask govt to help recover missing child

PESHAWAR: The parents of a missing boy have asked chief minister and provincial police chief to help recover the only male child in the family.

Mohammad Saad, two and a half years old, went missing in Peshawar on July 21, last month.

His father Umar Hayat said his son went to the nearby shop in Sheikh Mohammadi village in suburbs of Peshawar to buy some sweets, but he did not return home. “We are living in a peaceful Sheikh Mohammadi village with a small community. Since he was my only son and also the only child in our home, therefore, we would not let him go out,” said an aggrieved father of the child who is a tailor by profession. “We are poor people and don’t have any enmity,” he said.

He said it was around 9:30am when his son insisted to buy some sweets from the shop in the street. “When he didn’t return, we immediately went to the shop but could not find him there. The shopkeeper told us that he had not come to the shop,” explained Umar Hayat. They along with other villagers immediately launched a search in the area but couldn’t find him anywhere.

He said the villagers later told them that a white car with tinted glasses was seen in the village that day and his son might have been kidnapped. “There is no such car in our village. It is believed that the occupants of the car might have kidnapped my son. But I don’t understand why would they do so as we are poor people and don’t have money. We have not received any phone call [for ransom] from anyone,” he said. Umar Hayat said it’s been a month since his son went missing and there was a mourning-like situation at his home.“We are passing through a difficult time,” remarked his father. He said his wife and parents had developed psychological problems due to the tragedy. “Life has become meaningless for us. We appeal to the chief minister, provincial police chief and other senior security officials to help us recover my lone son,” Umar Hayat said.