RAWALPINDI: Parents and relatives of the three minors who were swept away in a nullah during Friday’s rains in Dhoke Khabba staged a sit-in on Murree Road on Tuesday as rescue workers and civic authority officials have not yet been able to locate their bodies.

The protesters gathered at Committee Chowk at about 4:30pm and marched on Murree Road to the press club.

They shouted slogans, blocked traffic, tore banners and ads put up by candidates for the upcoming elections and demanded that the prime minister and chief justice direct the concerned authorities to get divers from Pakistan Navy to recover the bodies of the children.

The protesters set tyres and wood on fire in the middle of the road which they had blocked on both sides, leading to long traffic queues.

The three children, seven-year-old Shah Hussain, seven-year-old Farhan Malik and four-year-old Nawab Zahra, all cousins, were swept away in the nullah while bathing in it during Friday’s rain.

The mothers of the missing children said rescue workers gave up the search after just two hours into the operation.

One of the mothers said she will not end the sit-in till the body of her child is recovered.

Senior police officials reached the scene and held talks with the protesters, assuring them their demands will be met and that a rescue operation will be started soon. The protest was called off at about 7:30pm.

Published in Dawn, June 20th, 2018