With the help of social media, missing KP boy found in India's Rajasthan two years later

Published May 29, 2016
Zafar holds up a photo of his son. ─ Photo by author
Zafar holds up a photo of his son. ─ Photo by author

PESHAWAR: A seven-year-old boy who went missing from his home in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Charsadda two years ago was found in the Indian state of Rajasthan.

Tufail Ismail was five-years-old when he went missing. ─ Photo by author.
Tufail Ismail was five-years-old when he went missing. ─ Photo by author.

Tufail Ismail, who was five-years-old at the time, was misplaced by his family on June 6, 2014 while they were shifting homes from Sardaryab to Ternab, his father Zafar Ali said.

The family searched everywhere but couldn't find Tufail, he said, adding: "The next day we registered a First Information Report at the Prang police station."

Nearly two months ago, the family came to know of his whereabouts when Tufail's maternal uncle in Saudi Arabia saw a picture on social media shared by an Indian social worker, Sujewa Pereira, Zafar said.

Zafar Ali said the family misplaced Tufail while shifting homes. ─ Photo by author.
Zafar Ali said the family misplaced Tufail while shifting homes. ─ Photo by author.

The social worker had shared a contact number beneath the photo and requested social media users to share the post so the child could be reunited with his family.

The boy's uncle dialled the given number and was told the missing boy was in the custody of the Indian police at the Ganga Nagar police station in Rajasthan.

Zafar said it had been 45 days since he learned of his child's whereabouts but had been unable to bring his son back to Pakistan. The family is now looking to the government to aid in their efforts to recover Tufail.

Tufail's parents appealed to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Indian PM Narendra Modi to help bring their son home.

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