A female student was forcibly disappeared after being taken into custody during a raid on the girls’ hostel of Bolan Medical College in Quetta, fellow students said, as protests continued demanding her recovery.
Khadija Baloch, a seventh-semester BS Nursing student and a resident of the Hirronk area in Kech district, was taken during the raid and moved to an undisclosed location, students said, adding that no information has since been provided about her whereabouts.
According to students, personnel from the Frontier Corps, Military Intelligence and the Counter Terrorism Department were involved in the operation.
Authorities have not issued any official statement regarding the detention.
Following the incident, students staged a sit-in outside the college, demanding her immediate and safe recovery. Protesters said the incident had caused “severe mental distress” and raised concerns about their safety, alleging harassment on the basis of their Baloch identity.
A heavy contingent of police was later deployed at the protest site, raising fears among demonstrators of a possible crackdown.
‘not an isolated incident’
The Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) said Khadija Baloch was taken from the hostel and transferred to an undisclosed location, adding that no information had been provided to her family or fellow students since her detention.
It said the protest was a demand for accountability and an end to enforced disappearances, describing the case as part of a wider pattern.
“This is not an exception. This is policy,” the group said, adding that enforced disappearances have been used as a form of “collective punishment” targeting Baloch families, including students and women.
The Baloch Women Forum (BWF) said the reported abduction of a female student from within a hostel reflected a “grave violation of human rights” and highlighted growing insecurity in educational spaces.
It said such incidents show that academic institutions are no longer safe for Baloch women, describing the case as part of an “increasingly dangerous reality” in which female students face vulnerability and fear.
The group expressed solidarity with the protesting students and called for Khadija Baloch’s “immediate and unconditional release.”
PAANK, the human rights department of the Baloch National Movement (BNM), said the case reflects an “ongoing pattern of enforced disappearances” in Balochistan, warning that such actions place victims at risk of abuse.
It called on authorities to disclose her whereabouts and ensure her safe release, while urging human rights organisations to take notice of the case.
Dr Naseem Baloch, chairperson of the BNM, said the disappearance of a student reflected what he described as a broader pattern of “abductions” and “collective punishment,” calling on the international community to respond.
The incident comes amid reports of a renewed rise in enforced disappearances in Balochistan, with women increasingly among those reported missing.
Earlier this month, a woman identified as Haseena Baloch, originally from Awaran and residing in Karachi, was also taken into custody and remains unaccounted for, according to family sources.