The disappearance of Sibghatullah Zafar, a 17-year-old Pakistani boy, since the crescent night of Eid Al-Fitr has shocked the family. As the festive mood prevailed after the sighting of the new moon on Sept. 29 that ended the fasting month of Ramadan, Sibghatullah as instructed by his mother went to a nearby baqala to buy vermicelli and milk for the preparation of a sweet dish, a favorite on Eid Al-Fitr for the people of the subcontinent, but he never returned home. Sibghatullah, an under-aged driver, met with a traffic accident even before reaching the shop and ran away from the scene of the accident on the pretext of calling his father for an amicable settlement. Zafar Iqbal, the boy's father, a company driver himself, said his son might have thought the traffic accident would bring some insurmountable problem to the family and thus he fled. “My family is shattered and could not celebrate Eid Al-Fitr after Sibghatullah's disappearance. We are spending sleepless nights. We are even more concerned as we have failed to locate our son, a brilliant student of the Pakistan International School, Khobar,” he said speaking over the phone from Al-Khobar. Iqbal said it would not have been a big problem since the boy escaped unhurt and the cars involved in the accident were only slightly damaged. He said he has lived in Al-Khobar for 22 years and this was the first time such an incident happened in the family. Iqbal said he looked for his son in all of the city's hospitals and other possible places where he might have gone. He has also reported the matter to the police and Governorate office. “I posted an appeal to community members with posters in baqalas with Sibghatullah's picture,” he said. He said when he went to the police station, the accident report was already registered with a statement that the driver (his son) ran away from the scene. “The police confiscated my Iqama saying that my son ran away after committing a traffic accident,” he said. Sibghatullah is six-feet tall and was wearing a brown shalwar-khamees when he disappeared. The boy speaks Urdu and has a working knowledge of Arabic. People can contact 050-4842135 or landline 03-8670492 if they have any information about the missing boy. __
