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A protest demanding the safe return of abducted children intensified in Pakistan's Sindh province after demonstrators blocked the National Highway at Babarlo in Sukkur, disrupting traffic between Sindh and Punjab and increasing pressure on the provincial government, The Express Tribune reported.
According to The Express Tribune, the blockade was organised by the Priya Kumari Action Committee after protesters said they had waited more than three weeks without significant progress in tracing the missing children. Babarlo was also the site of a major lawyers' protest in April 2025 against the proposed Indus canal project, The Express Tribune noted. Speaking at the protest, committee leader Sohni Paras said the sit-in would continue until credible assurances were given regarding the children's safe return. She stated that the protesters expected police to rescue at least four or five of the abducted children before they would consider ending the demonstration, the report said. As reported by The Express Tribune, banners displayed at the protest site feature photographs and details of 17 missing children, including their names, ages and the circumstances of their disappearance. The gathering includes parents, siblings and relatives of the abducted children seeking action from the authorities. Among the youngest victims is a three-year-old girl, who was allegedly abducted from Kotri in Jamshoro district on May 17, 2025. Other missing children include a 16-year-old boy, abducted from Larkana in November 2025, and a 16-year-old girl, who went missing from Khairpur in February 2026, according to The Express Tribune. The report said that journalist and activist Taj Rind alleged that police had failed to register First Information Reports (FIRs) in the cases of eight missing children. The protest has been named after a minor girl who was allegedly abducted from Sukkur on August 19, 2021, at the age of seven. According to The Express Tribune, the girl's parents, despite campaigning for years for her safe return, are not participating in the latest sit-in. Protest leaders alleged that the family had faced pressure from the provincial government. According to the report, the highway blockade began after a deadline given to the authorities expired. Senior police officials from Sukkur and Khairpur met the protesters but were unable to persuade them to end the demonstration, The Express Tribune reported. (ANI)
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