ISLAMABAD: The Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Mian Saqib Nisar has taken notice of the trafficking of women in Islamabad and Rawalpindi.

He took notice after reports surfaced of a 40-year-old woman, a mother of three from Rawalpindi, being sold to various people and taken to Afghanistan.

Her kidnappers have demanded a ransom of Rs300,000 and police say they cannot do anything in the matter.

Many women from Pakistan are sold in Afghanistan by a gang, which has more than 150 members, through fake marriages. In many cases, the women are used as sex slaves.

According to a statement issued by the apex court, the FIR for the 40-year-old missing woman was registered on Jan 1 at the Airport Police Station in Rawalpindi though nothing was done regarding the matter.

The victim’s husband received a phone call from an agent in Afghanistan who demanded Rs300,000 for releasing his wife and that he will otherwise sell her on. The husband is a daily wager and is struggling with even providing daily expenses for his family.

This gang which kidnaps and sells women operates in Khanna Pul, Fauji Colony, Chuhr and Koh-i-Noor Mills and has more than 150 members who pose as matchmakers.

They visit poor families who have daughters, offer some matches and an amount for the match as well. Once the parents agree, the girls are sold in the country or in Afghanistan.

The gang has sold many Afghan girls in Pakistan and Pakistani girls in Afghanistan, mostly to old men through a fake nikah solemnised by a nikah registrar.

A Pakistani woman in Swabi is said to be leading the gang. She takes the girls with her to Jalalabad and sells them on to Afghan agents. The CJP has asked the IGPs of Islamabad and Punjab to provide him with reports on the matter in three days.

Published in Dawn, February 25th, 2017