13-year-old Umerkot girl who went missing is in police custody: Sindh home minister

HYDERABAD: Sindh Home Minister Suhail Anwar Siyal on Wednesday claimed a 13-year-old girl who went missing earlier this month in Sindh’s Umerkot district is in Hyderabad police custody.

“A Baloch couple handed over Amisha Khashkeli, 13, to police,” Siyal said while addressing the media in Hyderabad.

“The Baloch couple said they found the girl on a roadside,” the home minister added.

Siyal upheld that the 13-year-old will be handed over to her family after investigations are completed.

The Sindh home minister further assured that all those found involved in the case, including police officials, will be dealt with as per the law.

Last week, Amisha’s relatives claimed that a women’s police squad raided their house and stopped her marriage and she had been missing since.

The 13-year-old girl’s family had alleged that the police stopped the marriage on the orders of a local feudal lord and took her with them. “The police took her with them and she has been missing since,” the relatives had said.

Following the family’s claims, police officials said they had handed the girl over to her family after questioning.

The officials further explained that they raided a house on April 18 after receiving information that a 13-year-old girl was being married to an eight-year-old boy.

Upon hearing of the raid, the groom and the person who was supposed to solemnise the marriage ran away, police added.

“However, we took the girl, her sister and mother into custody and handed them over to their relatives after recording their statements,” the officials had said.

After reports of the case went viral on social media, IG Sindh AD Khawaja had called for an inquiry into the incident and also suspended Umerkot Women’s Police SHO Khushbakht to ensure the independent inquiry was not influenced.

The girl’s family had also registered a case in a district and sessions court under Section 22(A) against two local feudal lords and police officials.