Finding Issac: Two years on, police unable to trace kidnapped youth

KARACHI: Every other morning for the past two years, Younis Sadiq has been sending out a text message to police officers, wishing them good morning as well as reminding them that his son is still missing. “I will keep haunting them till my son is found,” said Sadiq. “Maybe some day they would understand the pain of a father whose young son has been abducted.” Two year ago, 27-year-old Issac Samson was kidnapped along with another Christian worker, Indrias Javed, while they were en route to their workplace – a charity hospital, Good Samaritan Hospital, in Orangi Town that is being run by Korean NGO Agape Medical Service. On February 29 2012, four armed men stopped the hospital vehicle early in the morning and whisked away the two young men. While Indrias managed to escape a month and half after the incident by jumping off a truck near the Northern Bypass as the kidnappers were transporting them, Issac remains in the captivity of the kidnappers. Issac, who was studying for a bachelor’s degree to become a pastor, worked for the finance department of the hospital. And as the case trudges on with no real progress, the family becomes increasingly frustrated. “With police officers being transferred on a regular basis, the case has been handled by five different investigation officers,” explained Sadiq. With the police initially turning a blind eye towards the kidnapping, the family was forced to turn to the Sindh High Court, where they filed a constitutional petition. However, police officers still fail to appear and a lack of cooperation from Indrias is delaying any progress. The case is now being handled by the police’s Crime Branch and last October, they released sketches of two of the kidnappers in various newspapers. The same day, a man called them up and asked for Rs40,000 and mobile phone credit in lieu of Issac’s freedom. The man later agreed to even Rs5,000. Crime branch inspector Muhammad Mazari, who is now the investigation officer of the case, said that the call is the only trace that they have so far. “We think the man is a fraud because now he is demanding only Rs5,000.” Meanwhile, apart from the phone call, which both the police and family think is phony, they have not received any further demands of ransom, something that is puzzling all involved. “I don’t understand why my son has been kidnapped,” said his mother Surraya, who hardly talks to anyone and spends most of her time praying and fasting, hoping that divine intervention will help recover her son. “Whenever we have food, I think about him and wonder if he is also eating. When it gets cold, I can’t help but think about whether he has a sweater to keep himself warm.” Published in The Express Tribune, March 3rd, 2014.