Shruti Suman
A Pakistani mother was reunited with her mentally challenged son, a former policeman who had been missing since 2016. The emotional reunion took place in Rawalpindi’s Tahli Mohri Chowk, where the mother, Shaheen Akhtar, found her son begging. Mustakeem Khalid had been subjected to torture and injections during his seven-year captivity by a beggars’ gang.
Mustakeem, who suffered from a mental disorder and disappeared in 2016 due to the effects of typhoid fever, was recognized by his mother during the encounter. Shaheen Akhtar had previously filed a missing person report with the Civil Lines police, explaining that her son often left home due to depression, but this time he did not return.
Upon discovering her son begging with a gang at Tahli Mohri Chowk, Shaheen Akhtar embraced him, leading to an emotional reunion. However, the gang members, including three women and two men, began assaulting and abusing her. The gang had exploited Mustakeem’s disability to force him into begging.
Following the reunion, the police arrested four members of the beggars’ gang, including the leader Wahid and three women. An investigation was initiated to locate other accomplices. The FIR filed stated that Mustakeem Khalid had been abducted and incapacitated by the gang for the purpose of begging.
Efforts were underway to apprehend the remaining culprits, and raids continued to capture other gang members. The arrested gang leader, Wahid, was revealed to be the real brother of the detained members Maryam and Sabina, as reported by Dawn.
