FAISALABAD, July 18: All the three children who were recovered on the information of three alleged children traffickers were handed over to their mothers by the local police here on Thursday.

In the teeth of hectic efforts made by the police, the fathers or male relatives of the children stayed themselves away from visiting Faisalabad to recover them. Only their mothers approached the Tariqabad police post and received their kids.

Talking to Dawn, Khurshid Bibi (55), mother of Naseem Akhtar, admitted that her family handed over her child under a contract for they had no other source of income. The accused were bound to pay Rs1,000 per month to them in lieu of the services rendered by her son.

It was said that her son would sell cassettes of na’ats and other articles in commercial and residential areas of Faisalabad. We were not aware that he would be forced to beg. But we needed money and there was no harm in begging, she said. My son had not made complaint of maltreatment, she added.

To a question, she replied that her husband was a daily wage earner and was not in a position to visit Faisalabad to get back his child.

Zareena Bibi, mother of Maqsood Raza, also confessed that financial crisis had forced the family to send her son to Faisalabad.

Similarly, the mother of Saleem, Sakeena Bibi, said her family had no option but to send her child to Faisalabad for arranging three time meal for other family members. She said her husband, a chronic TB patient, had been jobless for the last several years.

The local police on Monday last had arrested three persons from a hotel in the general bus stand area for their involvement in forcing the “abducted” children to sell pamphlets, audio-cassettes and other material.