Family in Pakistan raises appeal to find man 'missing' in Bahrain

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

A Pakistani family is seeking help from Bahrain’s authorities and the public to find their member, who, according to them, has gone missing for over 40 days now.

Pakistani national Muhammad Shahbaz, 41, came to Bahrain nearly six months ago and was regularly in contact with the family members in his home country.

“All of a sudden, phone calls stopped and our repeated attempts to contact him did not yield any results,” Muhammad Sajjad, Shahbaz’s brother, told The Daily Tribune in a phone conversation from Pakistan.

“We are from a low-income family and Shahbaz came to Bahrain thinking he would be able to support the family better, but what has happened now is something we never thought of.”

Shahbaz’s family hails from Faisalabad City in Pakistan.

He is married to Noorian Beevi and the couple has two children – seven-year-old son Mohammed Ayam and four-year-old daughter Anam.

“I don’t know anyone in Bahrain.

I am not even educated enough to contact officials in Bahrain,” Sajjad said.

“I spoke to a friend of Shahbaz, who said someone saw him on the streets of Manama, around ten days ago.

I am really worried for him.” A friend of Shahbaz, also a Pakistani national, who doesn’t want to be named in the report, said he has contacted Shahbaz’s sponsor, who is planning to file a missing complaint with the police.

“Shahbaz was suffering from slight mental health issues and we wanted him to leave home safely. But unfortunately, he has gone missing.

We have informed the sponsor, who has agreed to file a police complaint,” the friend said.

When contacted, a Pakistan Embassy official promised absolute support to the family of Shahbaz in their attempts to search and find him out.

“The family can contact us and we will offer every possible help.

We are responsible for every Pakistani national living in the Kingdom,” the official pointed out.

The Daily Tribune could not obtain a comment on the matter from Shahbaz’s employer.

The Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA) profile of Shahbaz shows that his residency permit in Bahrain has expired.