A Pakistani woman named Shaheen Akhtar found her mentally-challenged son begging on the streets of Rawalpindi’s Tahli Mohri Chowk.

Rawalpindi: A heartwarming story has emerged from Pakistan where a mother found her mentally challenged former policeman son after seven years, but in a very bad state. The mother found her son begging on the streets of Rawalpindi’s Tahli Mohri Chowk, as reported by Dawn. Shaheen Akhtar recognised her son at the chowk begging and burst into tears. Following the heartwarming incident, local police arrested four members of the beggars’ gang, including three women, and initiated a thorough probe to locate the remaining members.

Mustakeem Khalid, the missing man, had been subjected to torture and injections during his captivity by the beggars’ gang, according to his mother. Mustakeem, a former policeman suffering from a mental disorder, had disappeared in 2016 due to the effects of typhoid fever.

His mother, Shaheen Akhtar, had previously filed a missing person report with the Civil Lines police, explaining that her mentally challenged son often left home due to depression. Despite villagers usually bringing him back, Mustakeem did not return after leaving in 2016.

The reunion occurred when Shaheen Akhtar, oblivious to her son’s whereabouts, spotted him begging with a gang at Tahli Mohri Chowk. The gang, comprising three women and two men, was forcing Mustakeem to beg, exploiting his disability.

Upon recognizing her son, Shaheen Akhtar embraced him, but the gang members accompanying him began assaulting and abusing her. The FIR filed stated that Mustakeem Khalid was abducted and incapacitated by the gang to beg.

A police spokesman reported the arrest of gang leader Wahid, along with three women, while efforts were underway to apprehend the remaining culprits. Wahid, the real brother of detained members Maryam and Sabina, was later arrested. Raids continued to capture the other gang members, Dawn reported.