KARACHI, Nov 19: Around 1,276 children have been reported missing with the Edhi Foundation till October 30 this year in sharp contrast to the official figures of 65 child lifting cases compiled by the Sindh police, reported in different police stations of the city during the same period.

Statistics compiled by the Edhi Foundation show that missing reports of 1,171 boys and 105 girls were lodged at different centres during the year.

Out of 1,276 missing children, as many as 207 children were found and referred to the foundation, which later handed over them to their parents.

In the year 2002, the Edhi Foundation received 1,548 entries of missing children in sharp contrast to the police figures of 54 reported cases of missing children during the same period.

The police statistics showed that only 388 child lifting cases had been reported since 1992.

In 1992, 27 cases were reported, followed by 36 in 1993, 13 in 1994, seven in 1995, 17 in 1996, 24 in 1997, 20 in 1998, 36 in 1999, 51 in 2000, 38 in 2001, 54 in 2002 and 65 in 2003.

According to the police, the cases of child lifting are apart from the abduction and kidnapping cases. Police said that there were no ransom calls in the cases of abduction while kidnapping cases were followed by ransom calls.

Police officials said that they initially made an entry into “Roznamcha” (diary) about the missing child and pass on the message to all police stations. They said that police used to register kidnapping for ransom case when any anonymous call was received by the parents regarding their missing child.

Usually, children lose their parents either at festivals or during journey from one city to another while some of them leave home at their will.

Apart from the cases of child lifting, a significant number of children also run away from homes due to domestic violence especially by fathers, Edhi officials said.

In this regard, 529 children were admitted to the Edhi Children Homes, where they are awaiting for any heir to turn up, remarked Rizwan Edhi. He said that a number of children were admitted to the Edhi Homes due to worsening economic conditions and wide spread unemployment in the country, as their parents could not afford their proper upbringing.

Despite such a huge difference existing in police and Edhi statistics about the missing children, a spokesman for the foundation said that in most cases police brought children to the Edhi Centres. Such children, he said, did not remember their addresses that used to hamper in early repatriation to their # families.

Referring to the data on missing children, Rizwan Edhi told Dawn that all Edhi Centres would soon be linked through computer network and data along with the photographs of missing children would be regularly updated. This would enable the parents to locate their missing children through computers, he added.

Edhi officials said that the missing children at Edhi Homes, who could not be repatriated to their parents despite all efforts, were properly looked after at the centre.

After reaching an age when they could decide about their future, the young men were allowed to opt for jobs within the Foundation and work as a volunteer or get jobs elsewhere, Edhi spokesman added.