ISLAMABAD: The public should be asked to help identify culprits in cases of child abduction, said Senator Rehman Malik on Monday.

Chairing a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Interior, the PPP senator said low quality CCTV cameras are mostly used across the country, footage of which is not of much help. He said all provinces will be directed to create WhatsApp groups so people can send in pictures of suspects.

He said the National Counter Terrorism Authority (Nacta) and the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) should also be involved in eradicating child abduction.

Giving the committee a briefing about the case of Zainab, Additional Inspector General of Police Investigation Punjab Khuda Bakhsh said the Safe City Project is not available in Kasur.

“Residents of the area provided footage from four CCTV cameras to the police but due to the low quality footage of about two mega pixels, it was not possible to identify the culprit. The picture was distorted every time we tried to magnify it,” he said.

Senator Malik suggested a campaign titled ‘No Crime’ be launched in which the general public will be asked for help in solving cases of child abduction.

“People can take pictures whenever they are suspicious when they see someone with a child and send it to the WhatsApp group of the provincial police. It will be possible to track down a suspect in case a complaint is made,” he said.

The committee directed Nacta and Nadra to play their role in making the initiative a success. Senator Sahi Syed said everyone should play a role in the eradication of child abduction.

“We have examples of 100 children being killed and their bodies being hidden in drums. That sort of thing cannot be tolerated and we need to raise awareness among the people,” he said.

Published in Dawn, January 23rd, 2018