really surprised there is no thread about the 5 yo British boy kidnapped in Pakistan.

[wannaBe]

Sorry - unable to copy/paste links atm.

But basically the house was broken into, the family were beaten and went through a six hour ordeal before the kidnappers left with the child who was on holiday with his father.

They are demanding a £100000 randsome.

aarg that link didn't work (sorry problems with my IE not letting me cut/paste links properly) but basically it was the same article as was published by reuters yesterday morning which I copied/pasted here.

I was wondering if the people involved are doing a deal in terms of their arrests?

This is all so wrong.

Is this not a case of them not being a white, middle-class family? The first suspects in any investigation is the family, that's a matter of course.

I find it appauling that the news is plastered with images of this little boy and interviews with his distraught mother. Then nothing. Just speculation about his family but no hard evidence, no updates, no nothing.

Yes it could be a news blackout but that doesn't happen very often. Not for this long. Have the news decided that it's simply not worthy of their attention anymore?

Well latest news is that they have some sort of evidence he's alive so there is something happening.

FCO will know much much more but won't release the info until they are in a position to do so.

I pray he's returned safely right now.

Well I wonder what the legal stance is in Pakistan re custody of children if the parents split. I also wonder whether the UK has an agreement with Pakistan re custody in the case of parental abduction?

Let's look at the aledged facts: mother is British, father is from Pakistan. They have an arranged marriage. Marriage aledgedly breaks down and the father returns to Pakistan taking the only son with him, but also taking the mother's passport so she cannot follow. And then the child is suddenly and mysteriously, on the day they are supposed to return to the UK, kidnapped by a gun-weilding gang who stuck around for six hours to torture the family before speeding off with the child who they were intending to kidnap all along?

Yes it does sound odd but family involvement could just mean very distant relatives.

My dh is from another eu country and if anyone kidnapped our ds in this village more likely than not they would be some sort of distant relative to my dh, a relative, not necessarily a close one.

What is think is odd is daddy took mummy's passport and took only child (- that makes daddy look very bad). And the ransom is very very high.

If this is some sort of scam instigated by the daddy then I'd say he would be foolish. A kidnap would get publicity - what would it achieve????? You think the Pakistani authorities would like to be made a fool of? I very much doubt it.

Lets just hope for an early and positive resolution to this.

If I were the mum I'd insist the fco fly my entire family over there as I'd want to be as close as I can.

If I were the mum I'd insist the fco fly my entire family over there as I'd want to be as close as I can.

Is that badly worded or are you seriously suggesting that the FCO, should pay for the Mothers flights ??

are the police going to look bad though? Given it's a case happening abroad it's easy enough for it to drop out of the news - just look how quickly it's dropped off the media radar here, by next week it'll be forgotten.

Yes, I would want them to if I couldn't afford it - if a kidnapping of a young child has been established - this is the mum we're talking about and she does have two young daughters as well. And given she doesn't have her passport (or so it seems) if I were here I'd want fco to help out.

Well the father denies taking her passport.

Petition to free Sahil

They also stole jewellry from the house and are demanding a ransom. If this was the dads doing, what would he hope to achieve? A ransom paid for by his own family? I fail to see how he would explain this away, how would he have hoped it would all turn out?

Usually kidnappings by families just involve the father refusing to take the child back to Britain. They don't normally stage a kidnap and get the police involved.

When there was speculation that the McCanns were involved in the kidnap of their child, this site was full of incandescent posts in their defence.

Just make sure that you are white, blond and middle class if you plan to get kidnapped.

I'm with you on that rhubarb - a child abduction incident would go all out to avoid publicity. This has involvement from the most senior Pakistani officials.

But seeker I do rember quite a few who think they were at the very least negligent and many who also thought and still think they are involved.

Absolutely. But they were challenged vociferously. And they were massively outnumbered by the messages of support.

Still can't believe there is no news...

I think it's because the last report which was reuters said they know he's alive and safe and they are working to resolve - so they are probably just trying to get on with it.

It must be hard for an overseas police force to have to deal with a crime that involves an overseas national as all eyes are on them.

Absolutely seeker.

Apparently the father is on his way home, against the advise of the Pakistan police who wanted him to remain as a witness.
No news on the little boy.

It is back on the media today. There are also BBC journalists in the Pakistan village.

All about the father returning to the UK.

Also little boy has been placed ona Watch list whch means that he cannot be allowed to leave Pakistan via airports, ports, etc. Presumably only works if they are using his own passport or is noticed though.

I can't help feeling that if this child was a blonde haired blue eyed white boy there would have been more coverage but it is very odd that the father has left the country.

I work in a school with a very large asian population, and lots of 5 year old little boys from similar areas. It is still not really making the stafroom chat, even amongst the non-white staff. I dont know why. I doubt it is racism though TBH.

I think it isn't on MN much as it isn't on the news much.

Perhaps the father wants to be with his wife and feels that there are enough relatives out there in Pakistan, that he just wants to be with his wife and daughters?

Who knows.

There is a reason this isn't on the news or discussed on Mumsnet much and it's a controversial one. I watched the film 'Shooting Dogs' a few weeks back on the massacre of the Tutsi tribe. A BBC reporter (all actors) was asked by the volunteer helper at the UN sanctuary how she could film such atrocities and keep distant. She revealed that when she covered the Bosnian massacres she cried every night and couldn't sleep, but that this was different. Because the people being murdered in Bosnia were white, like her and these people were black. She admitted it was a horrible thing to say, but said that it helped her keep her distance and stay focused on what she had to do.

Could it be that people will distance themselves from this tragedy because the people are Pakistani? Thereby it makes it easier to think that they are not one of us? Whereas Madeline was from a white middle-class family, the sort that make up the majority of Mumsnetters and the majority of Britain.

perhaps Rhubarb. Or perhaps even it could be as simple as that they're from a different culture to us, so that alone distances people from it.

And the media play a huge part in that by reporting facts such as that it was an arranged marriage/that the elders of the family interveened in the row between husband and wife etc, and these are all concepts that are alien to most of us, and thus we distance ourselves from the culture, and consequently from the case.

But my experience is that it isn't be discussed in places where there are Pakistani adults either - such as in my school staffroom and playground (amongst staff and parents I mean).