KARACHI: The Sindh High Court on 27th September 2024 questioned the maintainability of a petition filed by interned social worker Sarim Burney seeking the commencement of his trial in a child trafficking case. Citing the Ministry of interior, Federal Investigation Agency, judicial magistrate concerned and others as respondents, the petitioner sought a directive for the trial court to start his trial on the basis of an interim investigation report filed before the relevant court.
Child Rights in Focus
According to a spokesperson for the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF), a nationwide crackdown against those selling drugs to students is ongoing. In the last 24 hours, six suspects were apprehended in five different operations around educational institutions. During these operations, approximately 15 kilograms of drugs valued at over Rs 1.2 million were seized. Near Farash Town in Islamabad, 150 grams of hashish and 10 ecstasy pills were recovered from one suspect. Similarly, in Lahore, near
KASUR: Scores of residents in Kot Murad Khan staged a protest on 27th September 2024 against the failure of the B-Division police to recover a boy who had been missing for the past 25 days. They blocked Ferozepur Road near the bypass by parking bikes and rickshaws, burning tyres and chanting anti-police slogans. Family members of 12-year-old Irfan said he left home 25 days ago to go to his workplace but never arrived. They
Pakistan turned 77 this year, yet the children harbored by the fifth most populated country continue to be failed by the state. One of the many challenges in this regard is child marriage. The Child Marriage Restraint Act 1929 Section 2(a) defines a “child” as “a person who, if a male, is under eighteen years of age, and if a female, is under sixteen years of age”. The term “child marriage” is defined in
HYDERABAD: More than 35 people, mostly children, suffered respiratory distress, coughing and throat and eye irritation after chlorine gas that leaked from a cylinder in the Hala Naka filtration plant spread in the Khursheed Town locality here on 24th September 2024. The plant is run by the Hyderabad Water and Sewerage Corporation (HW&SC). It was reported that a total of 27 children and 10 adults were affected by the gas leak and were taken
KARACHI: Despite the World Health Organization (WHO) identifying the provision of clean drinking water as a fundamental human right, till this day, locals in Pakistan’s industrial hub, Karachi, continue to suffer the perilous health repercussions of consuming contaminated water. From February to April this year, the Health Department of Sindh obtained more than 50 water samples from different districts of the city before testing them at the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB’s) laboratory.
TOBA TEK SINGH: Madina Town police of Faisalabad arrested on 26th September 2024 a couple for torturing a teenage girl, shaving her head as a punishment for refusing to work as a maid. According to the first information report (FIR), investigating officer Muhammad Atif Shahzad said Alisha Bibi (15), a resident of Chak 409-GB, Tandlianwala, told the police that she was brought to Faisalabad by a couple for a job from her village. They
RAWALPINDI: Speakers at a seminar warned that Pakistan was witnessing an alarming increase in eye cancer cases among children. Addressing the seminar titled: “Story of challenges and opportunities”, Prof Dr Tayyab Afghani, HOD Oculoplastics said children’s eye cancer in Pakistan was higher than India and China, and genetic diagnosis can reduce children’s eye cancer cases. Dr Afghani said that 2,000 children with eye cancer have been registered of whom 500 have fully recovered. He
There have been numerous attempts by private members of Pakistan’s National Assembly and Senate to amend the country’s Child Marriage Restraint Act of 1929. In recent years, the proposed amendments have been repeatedly tabled and rejected. These include the Child Marriage Restraint (Amendment) Bill 2014, moved by MNAs Marvi Memon, Shaista Pervaiz, and the late Pervaiz Malik; a similar bill introduced by Senator Seher Kamran in 2017; and another by Senator Sherry Rehman in
A ban has been imposed forthwith on expenditure on any extracurricular and co-curricular activities conducted by all education boards in Sindh, in view of the current financial constraints as reported by education boards and observed through respective reconciliation statements by the same. In this regard, Deputy Secretary Boards Ahsan Randhawa has sent a letter to all board chairmen. It is reported that educational boards of Sindh regularly charge co-curricular activities and scout fees along
GUJAR KHAN: Kallar Syedan police have registered a case against a man for allegedly raping a boy who reportedly injured the suspect when he put up resistance on 25th September 2024. According to details, the case was registered on the complaint of the victim’s father, who told Kallar Syedan police that his 15-year-old son returned from school on Tuesday and went to a man who was repeatedly calling on his mobile phone. He said
MUZAFFARGARH: A seven-year-old boy was allegedly tortured by some suspects over suspicion of theft in the Langrwah area of Alipur tehsil, some 120 kilometers away from the city. Reports said the suspects tied Muhammad Nasir with ropes, held him by his feet, and forced him to apologise for alleged theft. They laughed at the boy’s cries and recorded a video, which was later circulated on social media. After the video went viral, District Police