HYDERABAD: Sindh Ombudsman Dr Mohammad Sohail Rajput, who is a former chief secretary of Sindh, has expressed his disappointment over the slow pace of disciplinary proceedings against 64 employees of the Kulsoom Bai Valika Hospital over an HIV outbreak there. He was speaking to journalists at the local press club on Saturday evening. President Junaid Khanzada and Secretary Ashok Sharma of the club welcomed him and his team. The ombudsman said that his office
Child Rights in Focus
CHARSADDA: The district education officer (DEO) on Saturday ordered the sealing of 12 classrooms and the principal’s office at Government Shaheed Tariq Sentinel Model High School in Turangzai here, and the shifting of students to safer rooms due to the deteriorating condition of the building. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Secretary Dr Mohammad Fakhre Alam Irfan had taken notice of the dilapidated condition of the school building after reports and photographs highlighting the plight of students
KARACHI: Another child tested positive for mpox in the city on Oct 30, raising the tally of the viral infectious disease this year so far in the province to 115. Mpox is a viral infection which was earlier restricted to international travellers. It spreads through close contact with someone who has mpox, contaminated bedding, towels, medical instruments, surfaces or objects. Sources said the three-year-old boy was currently under treatment at Sindh Infectious Diseases Hospital
ISLAMABAD: The Senate Minority Caucus has taken serious notice of the alleged abduction, forced conversion, and underage marriage of minority girls in Sindh and Balochistan, directing law enforcement agencies to immediately recover a 14-year-old girl. The issue was raised in a meeting of the Senate Minority Caucus held at the Parliament House here on Oct 28 with senator Danesh Kumar in the chair. The meeting was attended by Minister of State for Religious Affairs
ISLAMABAD: A public-sector girls’ school in Islamabad is facing danger from excavation work being carried out for a housing scheme in the area. Islamabad Model School for Girls (IMSG), Kurri, run by the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE), is facing a potential threat due to construction work being undertaken for the development of a housing scheme. According to a letter issued by the FDE, large amounts of earth and soil have been continuously excavated
KARACHI: The National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) Karachi on Oct 29 claimed to have arrested two suspects allegedly involved in child sexual abuse. Speaking at a press conference at his office, Addl Director NCCIA Mohammed Tariq Nawaz said the agency had conducted an operation in the metropolis in connection with ongoing enquiries into objectionable material relating to child sexual abuse. Two suspects, identified as Jazal Hasan and Arfeen Khan, were arrested, and two
AT the recent Act for Nutrition Conference in Islamabad, organised by DawnMedia, where I joined a panel examining the link between poor water, sanitation and child stunting, much of the discussion was rightly about food: what children eat, how mothers are supported, and why so many families still struggle to access a nutritious diet. But sitting on that panel, I kept returning to another part of the stunting story that receives far less attention:
PESHAWAR: Peshawar High Court has ruled that contracting a second marriage cannot be a conclusive ground to deprive a mother of the custody of her child. A single-member bench consisting of Justice Mohammad Naeem Anwar declared that in custody matters the court was required to undertake an objective assessment of the minor’s existing circumstances, emotional attachment, settled environment, educational needs and comparative suitability of the proposed custodial arrangements. “It is a settled principle of
ISLAMABAD: The National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) on Sunday claimed to have busted an international child pornography network in which a father was allegedly involved in making and selling explicit videos of his own children. Islamabad NCCIA Additional Director Mohammad Shoaib Khan, speaking at a press conference in the capital, asserted that this was the first case in Pakistan’s history where a father was found involved in such a heinous crime against his
For hundreds of orphaned, abandoned, and vulnerable children in Punjab, a shelter home is meant to be a place of safety. Yet many of the private institutions housing these children remain outside the government’s full oversight, leaving authorities without a clear and up-to-date picture of how many children are living there, under what conditions, and whether they are safe. According to the Child Protection and Welfare Bureau (CPWB), only 14 shelter homes have been
SAHIWAL: On the orders of the Lahore High Court (LHC), Yousafwala police have registered a case against six persons, including a minor girl, her alleged husband, the witnesses and a nikah registrar under the Punjab Child Marriage Restraint Ordinance, 2026, on the complaint of the girl’s father. According to police sources, Ayesha Bibi, daughter of a labourer, Iqbal, of Chak 57/5L, was allegedly abducted by the suspect, Majid, of the same village, along with
BAHAWALPUR: The Miranpur police in Vehari district claimed on Oct 22 to have recovered three abducted children from the illegal custody of three suspects, who had also been booked for the alleged gang-rape of the victims’ mother in the Kukri Kalan area of Mauza Gurdawar. According to police sources, the woman worked as a domestic help at the residence of Mian Sajid Nawaz, while her husband is a shepherd. The woman alleged in her