RAWALPINDI: A two-year-old girl who had been separated from her parents during her visit to the overcrowded Ayub National Park on Thursday was finally reunited with them.

Eman Fatima, resident of Tarnol, had been missing since Thursday while she was visiting the park with her mother and aunts.

“Ghulam Mohammad, who found the girl in Ayub National Park, had been taking care of the child and at the same time trying to trace her parents. However, the police managed to establish contact with the man,” a police official said.

The girl was found with Ghulam Mohammad and his wife; she had become so much acquainted with them that she refused to leave them.

The baby’s mother had lodged a first information report (FIR) with Morgah police saying that she and her family members had come to the park. They were standing in front of the city walk gate when her daughter Fatima went missing, the woman stated.

The police believed that the girl had not been abducted but had wandered off and would soon be found. Finally, on Sunday Fatima was handed over to her mother by Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Farhan Aslam and Station House Officer (SHO) Mohammad Adeel at their office on Sunday. As many as 40 children were separated from their parents at Ayub National Park during Eid days, but luckily were reunited with them by the police. Police have urged parents to take extra care of their children while visiting public parks and other crowded places.

Published in Dawn, May 9th, 2022