May 6, 2025
By Iqra Manzoor
LAHORE
The discovery of a newborn boy’s lifeless body in a graveyard in Kahna, Lahore, on April 24, 2025, serves as a chilling reminder of a persistent and deeply troubling crisis unfolding across Punjab: the abandonment of infants. According to police, the body was approximately 24 to 36 hours old. An FIR registered under Section 329 of the Pakistan Penal Code noted, “No signs of violence were found on the body,” adding, “The infant was likely abandoned soon after birth to conceal an act deemed a social stigma.”
The grim details emerged further when Voicepk spoke with the investigating officer (IO), Humayun Shabbir. “A person named Zeeshan called 15 and informed us about the infant’s body,” Shabbir recounted. “When we reached the spot, a dog was seen dragging the infant’s body. The baby had been buried in the graveyard but was exhumed and mutilated by the animal.”
Police involved the Punjab Forensic Science Agency (PFSA), which determined the infant, confirmed to be male, was only a day old. However, the IO added, “PFSA informed us… that a post-mortem would not be possible.” Consequently, the cause of death—whether natural or otherwise—remains unknown.
“The police ensured the proper burial of the infant,” Shabbir said.
Not the first time
This incident is far from isolated. On March 19, 2025, the body of a newborn girl was found at Ayub Chowk in Johar Town, Lahore. Earlier, a Voicepk report, “From the Cradle to… a Garbage Dump – A Shocking Rise in Abandoned Babies,” highlighted a disturbing pattern in Sialkot during February 2025, where five newborn girls were found discarded in garbage dumps within fourteen days – some bodies mutilated by animals.
The scale of this tragedy is starkly illustrated by data from Punjab’s official bodies. Between 2020 and 2024, the Rescue 1122 department responded to 482 newborn emergencies. These involved 389 actual infant victims – 233 boys and 156 girls. Alarmingly, 191 of these infants were found dead upon arrival, while 154 were rescued and shifted for medical treatment.
Newborn Emergencies Handled by Rescue 1122 (2020-2024)
This data underscores a grim trend across Punjab’s districts, including major cities like Lahore, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, and Multan, down to smaller areas, indicating a widespread issue.
Meanwhile, the Punjab Child Protection and Welfare Bureau (CPWB) provides a contrasting, yet equally vital, dataset. Over roughly the same period (past five fiscal years plus early 2025), CPWB rescued and provided services to 321 abandoned infants across the province.
Abandoned Children Rescued by CPWB
- 2019–20: 61
- 2020–21: 50
- 2021–22: 75
- 2022–23: 67
- 2023–24: 68
- 2025 (to date): 17
- Total (approx. 5 years): 321 (Note: This total reflects figures provided)
The juxtaposition of Rescue 1122 finding 191 infants dead versus CPWB rescuing 321 highlights the thin line between life and death for these newborns. While interventions save some, many perish silently, discarded in graveyards, garbage dumps, and desolate urban spaces – a stark portrait of societal failure and neglect.
Legal experts express concern over how these cases are handled. Advocate of Lahore High Court, Ahmar Majeed, speaking to Voicepk, pointed out significant legal and procedural shortcomings. “In such cases, the police usually act as the complainant because there is no family to pursue the case,” he explained. “The child is often unwanted, and the family abandons the infant to erase its existence and protect their identity. As a result, these cases are given the lowest priority by the police.”
Majeed stresses the critical role of forensic evidence.
“The medico-legal examination of the infant’s body is crucial. Only after a post-mortem can it be determined whether the child died naturally or due to foul play,” he stated. “This examination forms the basis of the entire investigation. If necessary, DNA samples can be sent to PFSA to help identify the parents.”
He criticized the common police practice of filing cases under Section 329 (exposure and abandonment) rather than Section 302 (murder). “They avoid registering them under Section 302… as that would make the case a high priority,” Majeed noted. “Instead, they file the FIR under Section 329, bury the infant—sometimes with a charitable foundation’s help—and quietly close the case.” He urged police to utilize CCTV footage and conduct thorough investigations, warning that “treating such cases with indifference sends a dangerous message and obstructs justice.”
Despite the efforts of NGOs, government bodies like CPWB, and shelters offering refuge, abandonment persists. These organizations plead with the public to safely hand over unwanted infants. However, the potent fear of societal judgment, particularly concerning births outside marriage, often drives desperate parents to dispose of newborns inhumanely.
Sarah Ahmad, Chairperson of the Punjab CPWB, confirmed their role to Voicepk: “CPWB rescues and obtains legal custody of such abandoned children… The CPWB Court grants us legal custody after reviewing the case. If any family seeks to adopt, the court can grant temporary custody through proper legal procedures.” She acknowledged the reality: “It is rare that biological parents return to claim their child because most of these children are intentionally abandoned due to being unwanted, often in the context of extramarital or illegal relationships.” She affirmed, “CPWB prioritizes the safety of the child and acts strictly according to the law.”
The recent death in Kahna, viewed against the backdrop of hundreds of similar emergencies and deaths reported by Rescue 1122 and the rescues managed by CPWB, paints a harrowing picture. Each statistic represents a life lost or irrevocably altered by silence, shame, and systemic failures. This escalating pattern of abandonment demands more than just institutional reform in policing, forensic protocols, and child protection; it necessitates a profound societal reckoning with the stigma, fear, and misogyny that allow such tragedies to continue. Until then, more newborns risk being born into silence, forgotten before they have a chance to be known.