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Child abduction for ransom rising

SULTANA RAHMAN
Sixteen-year-old Sumon came back home after days in captivity, the latest in a long line of abductions since January 2000 that underline insecurity of schoolchildren in Dhaka.
The student of class X hardly goes out alone. He spends most of his time working and playing games on computer. But June 24 was unusual for Sumon, son of Jahangir Alam, senior official of Biman Bangladesh Airlines -- the day he was abducted apparently for ransom.
The US State Department on June 15 blacklisted Bangladesh and warned it of economic sanctions in the event of its failure to cut the crimes against women and children in 60 days from the day of issuance of the warning. Newspapers say at least nine children have been abducted in the city since June 15.
Up to 3,514 children were missing or kidnapped from January 2000 to June 2004, according to a study by the Centre for Women and Children Studies, a nongovernmental organisation.
Sajib and Sabbir, two brothers, were lucky enough to return home on June 25, ending their 72-hour ordeal at the hands of abductors. Tk 10 lakh ransom was demanded for their release.
But Shihab and Bappi did not return alive: both were brutally killed for ransom in 2002. The body of Shihab was found in eight pieces 52 days after he was abducted by his friends, aged between 1415.
Bappi was abducted by his uncle over a family dispute that turned into a ransom-motivated incident. His decomposed body was retrieved from the Shitalakkha river.
"They (abductors) killed my son before we could give a ransom of Tk 10 lakh,"
said Shihab's father, still haunted by his son's death.
Seven-year-old Babu is among several hundreds missing for the last 13 years. Babu went to play at nearby Basabo playground and never returned home, leaving his parents to wait for him.
"I don't know whether Babu is dead or alive," says Babu's father Shariful Islam who still rushes out of home to look for his son if any missing child is found in the neighbourhood.
The numbers of missing children going back to their families or found alive are low and many abducted children could not be rescued.
Only 2 percent of the missing are found, while 62 percent of the kidnapped children are rescued, the report says.
Many missing or kidnapped children, especially girls, are smuggled out of
Bangladesh into neighbouring India en route to Pakistan and the Middles Eastern countries.
Smuggled girls or women also land in brothels, some are forced to work as home helps and some boys are sold as jockeys in camel race, a popular sport in some Arabian countries.
A recent trend of murdering children after failing to receive ransom has caused widespread panic. Gangs look for quick money in the rising crime curve, while the police are accused of inactivity.
"It can happen to my children too. The thought is chilling," says the mother of Avik, a student. "Reading reports on kidnaps in newspapers makes us more nervous," she points out.
The constant fear, panic and the instability cause "psychological
disorder," says Hamida Akhtar Begum, professor of psychology at Dhaka University.
She says the rescued children and their guardians live in constant fear: what has happened once can happen again. This leads to tension in the family and can hamper the child's study and overall growth unless extreme care is taken to help him overcome the shock.
Criminologists blamed the rising crimes in Bangladesh on poverty and joblessness. Adolescents, who are poor and jobless, seek to make quick money. They first take to petty crimes and then step into the world of serious crimes, the experts say.
They also pointed to the wrong upbringing of children and blamed many poor families for not taking care of their
children pushing them into the streets and lapses in law enforcement.
Dr Sadeka Halim, an associate professor at Dhaka University's Sociology Department, described the rising crime as the result of widening disparity in society.
She also holds inefficiency and politicisation of administration responsible for the rising crime. "There are ambitious people who want to become rich overnight. They either become criminals themselves or use gangs," she says.
The criminals believe ransom can easily be achieved. It is difficult for the families to cope with the consequences of abduction. "Nothing is more important than my children," said Sajib and Sabbir's mother.