PESHAWAR, May 21: A seven-year-old boy, who had run away from a local seminary, was reunited with his family in Afghanistan with the efforts of the Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (Sparc).

The boy, Ajer Khan, a resident of Shadal area in Afghanistan, was admitted to a local seminary on Kohat Road along with his cousins by his father, Ghouresh Gul, who is a cab driver.

The coordinator of Sparc’s Street Children Project, Imran Takkar, told Dawn that this was their first case that they had reunited a child out of Pakistan as in past they had re-unified children in different districts in the country.

He said that the boy had left the said seminary last week after indulging in a quarrel with his cousins.

He was spotted by the officials of Banamari police station which after getting initial information from him referred him to the Missing Children Centre at Gulbahar police station. Later on, the boy was referred to the Sparc’s drop-in centre established for the street children.

Mr Takkar said that initially the boy was worried as he was of tender age and had remained in the police station due to which he was not providing accurate information. The police claimed that he belonged to Shahdand Area in Peshawar.

However, when he was taken to that area he could not point out his residence. After complete psycho social counseling and relaxation, the child told the Sparc officials that he was the permanent resident of Village Shadal in Afghanistan. Mr Takkar said that when the boy was taken to Shadal, about 45 kms from Torkham Pak-Afghan border, he identified his father at a taxistand.

He said that when the boy met his father he was very jubilant and he was beaming.