'Priya Kumari is alive', Home Minister Lanjar tells parents of missing girl

• Home minister announces new award for girl's recovery.
• He assures parents that best cops are searching for her.
• DIG Javed Jaskani briefs parents about JIT's progress.

Sindh Home Minister Ziaul Hassan Lanjar told the parents of Priya Kumari, who has been missing for years, that she was still alive and the authorities had evidence to back it.

The parents of Priya Kumari, who had gone missing at the age of seven years in Sukkur on August 19, 2021, held a sit-in outside the Sindh Chief Minister House on Saturday, following which a government delegation met the girl's family and assured them of full cooperation, The News reported.

The delegation comprised Lanjar, Pakistan Peoples Party MPAs Mukesh Kumar Chawla, Lal Chand Ukrani, and Sham Sunder Advani. Civil society representatives Sheema Kermani, Fahmida Riaz, and Liaquat Jalbani among others were also present on the occasion.

Lanjar said the Sindh police were hopeful about the case and added that they have evidence of the girl being alive.

He assured the parents that the investigation team would succeed. DIG Javed Jaskani also briefed the parents about the joint investigation team's (JIT) progress in the case.

The home minister said that the best team of the Sindh police has been formed to recover Priya. The investigation team has collected evidence of her being alive after three years, and has come close to resolving the case, he added.

"I have faith in the Sindh police. They will rescue Priya Kumari," he stressed. He also announced a reward of Rs10 million for the police team that would rescue the girl.

"If the parents want a judicial commission or another JIT formed, or any other officer assigned to the case, we are ready to do that too. We assure you that this same team will bring Priya Kumari back safely."

Earlier, a protest was held at Teen Talwar for the girl’s recovery. The protest started at around 10:30pm on Friday and lasted until about 1:30am on Saturday.

The protesters dispersed after the home minister and the Karachi police chief held talks with them to assure them of recovering the girl. The demonstrators had held banners and placards with slogans demanding the girl’s recovery.

They said that on the 10th Muharram three years ago, Priya had gone missing from a water stall. They lamented that there had been no information about her since that day.

They demanded that the higher authorities ensure her immediate recovery. The protesters also said they would continue their peaceful protest until the child is recovered.