KARACHI: The Sindh Government Children’s Hospital will complete 10 years under a public-private partnership (PPP) arrangement next month, but the facility has seen little improvement in its capacity and continues to face complaints over delayed salaries and inadequate medical services. The 10-year agreement between the Sindh government and an NGO is set to expire on September 16, 2026. However, the provincial government has yet to announce a decision on the hospital’s future. The hospital
Child Rights in Focus
TOBA TEK SINGH: Five suspects were killed and one was arrested in injured condition in alleged encounters with the Crime Control Department (CCD) in Nankana Sahib and Pirmahal. In one incident, three alleged rapists-cum-murderers of a nine-year-old girl were killed on Thursday night. According to police sources, on Aug 17 a minor girl was allegedly kidnapped at gunpoint from her house in Mouza Allyanwala and her body was later found in a pit adjacent
KARACHI: The Sindh High Court on Aug 21 directed the Sindh Board of Film Censors to decide afresh after affording an opportunity of hearing to parties concerned on an application seeking permission for screening of film on ‘ghost school’ in the province. A two-judge SHC Constitutional Bench headed by Justice Adnan-ul-Karim Memon also said that the application of filmmakers be adjudicated through a speaking order by the board without being prejudiced by its previous
KARACHI: A teenage son of a watchman at a government school in Soldier Bazaar was arrested on charges of attempting to sexually assault a minor girl. Soldier Bazaar SHO Waqar Azeem said the 17-year-old suspect was arrested for “attempting to sexually assault” an eight-year-old girl. The officer said police had registered an FIR against the suspect on a complaint lodged by the girl’s father under Sections 376 (punishment for rape) and 511 (attempt to
KARACHI: A teenage son of a watchman at a government school in Soldier Bazaar was arrested on charges of attempting to sexually assault a minor girl. Soldier Bazaar SHO Waqar Azeem said the 17-year-old suspect was arrested for “attempting to sexually assault” an eight-year-old girl. The officer said police had registered an FIR against the suspect on a complaint lodged by the girl’s father under Sections 376 (punishment for rape) and 511 (attempt to
A child’s journey to school should never be a gamble. Yet in Pakistan, thousands of students travel every day in overcrowded vans, ageing Suzuki vehicles and rickshaws that are often poorly maintained and sometimes fitted with dangerously installed LPG cylinders. That this has been allowed to become routine is itself a serious failure of regulation. The Lahore Traffic Police’s decision to crack down on overloading and the use of LPG cylinders in school transport
TOBA TEK SINGH: A nine-year-old girl was allegedly kidnapped and later found dead at Chak Allyanwala in Nankana Sahib district. According to Warburton police, the body of Riffat Fatima was recovered from a pit near her house. The girl’s father, Shahbazul Hassan, stated in his first information report registered under Sections 302 and 363 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) that he woke up around 3 am on Monday and found his daughter missing
TOBA TEK SINGH: Tirkhani police, Faisalabad, arrested five people, including three women, for their alleged involvement in the sale and purchase of a newborn girl. Complainant ASI Zahid Bashir stated in his FIR, registered under Section 328 of the PPC and the Prevention of Trafficking in Persons Act 2018, that he had learnt about the disappearance of a 15-day-0ld girl from Chak 50-GB. During the investigation, police allegedly found that the baby’s mother, Sadia
LAHORE: Women from different walks of life on Monday demanded that the government take urgent and effective measures against the rising incidence of crimes committed against women and children, besides voicing concerns over the lack of access to education and healthcare and the ‘discriminatory treatment’ meted out to people of south Punjab. Addressing a press conference here on Monday, PPP Lahore Secretary General Dr Ayesha Shaukat said that safety providers in police stations were
KARACHI: Pakistan’s economic debate rarely strays far from familiar territory. Inflation, public debt, exports, taxation and the energy crisis dominate political speeches and newspaper headlines alike. These are undoubtedly pressing concerns for a country grappling with recurring fiscal instability. Yet beneath these visible economic challenges lies another crisis – less visible but arguably more consequential – that receives only episodic attention. Nearly four in every ten Pakistani children are chronically malnourished. This is not
LOWER DIR: The increasing number of stray dogs in different parts of Lower Dir has emerged as a serious public safety and health concern, with residents urging authorities to introduce a comprehensive strategy to address the issue. Residents told Dawn on Sunday that packs of stray dogs were commonly seen near garbage dumps, hotels, markets and residential areas in Samar Bagh, Chakdara, Talash, Timergara, Maidan and other localities. The situation has become particularly worrying
TOBA TEK SINGH: The Faisalabad FIA has foiled an attempt to traffic a minor girl to Saudi Arabia on August 16 through a fake marriage certificate. An FIA official said that during an immigration check at the Faisalabad International Airport, a minor passenger was stopped and profiled. During the examination of her documents, her age was found to be 13 years, while her marriage certificate was found to be fake. He said the initial