KARACHI: Parents of missing seven-year-old Priya Kumari and civil society reiterated their demand that the joint investigation team (JIT) and the Sindh home minister make the investigation transparent and give a date by which they expect themselves to have safely recovered the child.

“We expect that the promises, although verbal, made by the JIT and Sindh home minster during the meeting on 20.07.2024 for making diligent efforts for Priya’s recovery would not end up fruitless,” said a joint statement issued on Sunday by the organisers of the Friday protest sit-in at Teen Talwar.

The massive protest demanding the recovery of Priya Kumari had seen the arrival of the home minister where he met Priya’s parents, who had travelled all the way from their home in Sukkur to join the protest.

Accompanied by representatives of the Minority Rights March, Aurat March, Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Women’s Democratic Front, Priya Kumari Bazyabi Committee, and other civil society organisations for the safe recovery of the child, Priya’s parents met with Home Minister Zia Lanjar and members of the JIT at the Chief Minister House on Saturday.

The statement said that during the meeting, the JIT shared their progress and the home minister announced raising the governmental monetary award for any person who would provide concrete evidence regarding Priya’s whereabouts from Rs5 million to Rs10m. “However, the JIT remained unable to make a concrete commitment as to when Priya would be recovered,” it added.

It said that Priya’s parents submitted a written application to the home minister demanding a clear deadline for Priya’s recovery and a transparent investigation. “Although the home minister received a copy of the application, he refused to give any written receipt/acknowledgment thereto.”

The parents and protest organisers also condemned the brutal and unwarranted baton charge against the protesters by the Sindh police during the Friday peaceful protest.

They welcomed the details and progress shared by the JIT and stated: “Open-ended discussions and vague commitments have occurred one too many times without any avail and have only tarnished the trust once reposed in the Sindh police, which can only be restored with the safe recovery of Priya Kumari without delay.”

“Our unanimous and primary demand remains that the JIT and the home minister must commit to a set deadline for when they deem themselves to be in a position to ensure the safe recovery of Priya Kumari,” the statement read.

It must be mentioned here that DIG Pir Mohammad Shah had earlier issued a statement about having found concrete traces of Priya Kumari’s whereabouts and that she would be reunited with her family. A similar statement was also issued by the Sindh home minister on June 26.

Published in Dawn, July 22nd, 2024