An application designed by Punjab Police to help unite lost children and family members ended up helping a woman abducted from Afghanistan to reach her family.
Lahore’s traffic police confirmed that the woman’s family in Afghanistan have been found and she will be officially handed over to the embassy today.
The ‘Mera Pyara’ app was launched in April by the caretaker government in Punjab and maintains a database of all people who have been separated from their loved ones.
Two weeks ago traffic warden Shahid Qayyum, who had been appointed to find records of lost people, reached Bilquis Edhi Home in Lahore to collect some data for the app’s records. He soon saw a name that seemed to stick out, Mursal Komal Saeedi.
Sensing something was not right, Qayyum immediately sent for Saeedi. When she arrived, there was a small child with her as well.
However, it was not possible to communicate with the woman easily as no one could understand the language she was speaking. The warden’s team even found someone who could speak Pashto, but he could not make anything out either. The Pashto translator told them that the woman was speaking a mixture of Dari and Persian.
They finally managed to find a Persian translator and brought them to the Bilquis Edhi Home. Then she revealed her story.
Until two years ago, when Saeedi was only 25 years old, she lived a normal life with her husband and son in Afghanistan. Then woman lured her to her house at the pretext of getting her a job.
Saeedi said the woman gave her something to drink that was laced with sedatives. When she gained conciousness, she had no idea where she was or how she got there.
However, she did not immediately understand where she was. She was kept in a dark house so she managed to escape.
For three days, Saeedi said, she roamed the streets, not sure where she was or how to get home. As she walked around without food or drink some signs pointed to the fact that she was in Pakistan.
Eventually, a police vehicle stopped her. Unable to understand her, they dropped her off at Bilquis Edhi Home. Saeedi says any hopes of seeing her family again were dimming.
She was five months pregnant when she was abducted. She gave birth to Musa in the Edhi Home.
With Saeedi’s story heard, the traffic warden was now faced with the task of finding a way to get her home. He soon had an idea.
Large numbers of policemen, including traffic police officials, thronged Qaddafi Stadium as it geared up to host an Asia Cup match between Afghanistan and Bangladesh. One of the men in uniform there was Qayyum.
He knew that one of the VIPs invited to the match would be the Afghan charge d’affaires Ahmad Shakib. He just had to find a way to talk to him.
When the diplomat’s motorcade came in, Qayyum got into the driving seat of rover that escorted VIPs to their seating area. He drove the rover to the Shakib’s vehicle and made sure he got in.
As the rover reached its destination, Qayyum seized his chance and told Shakib he wanted to talk to him. As the diplomat gave him a look of scrutiny, Qayyum burst into his story and asked for his help in finding Saeedi’s family.
Shaikb told his staff to get Qayyum’s number and said he would try his best. Qayyum later said that he knew the risk involved in talking to Shakib directly the way he did, but he went for it anyway.
Another three days went by and Pakistan faced play Bangladesh in the Asia Cup. During the match, Qayyum received a photo from Shakib’s staff with a simple instruction to show them to Saeedi.
The warden rushed to the Bilquis Edhi Home and showed Saeedi the photo. She broke down in tears and confirmed it was her husband, Kamil Saeedi.
With this photo confirmed, more photos were summoned. She recognised her father, son and sister as well.
With the confirmations complete and her family traced, Saeedi is set to return home to her loved ones on Friday.
